Just a Couple of Kids, After All
by Sue Penkivech
Summary: When two powerless X-Men set out to prove themselves, anything can happen! BobbyKitty Finally Complete! R&R, please!
1. Chapter 1

This story is mine.  Really, all mine.  Well, all the characters belong to Marvel, and I got part of the idea from a story by Mel (thanks, Mel!), but please don't sue me, it wouldn't be worth it.  Thanks to Luba, too for the beta read and encouragement!

This story takes place not long after the High Evolutionary de-mutantized everyone, but Hank and Bobby (obviously) are not in Genosha. I don't KNOW that Bobby and Kitty have never met, but I'm assuming they haven't, or that, if they have, it was either in the middle of a battle or at Scott and Jean's wedding and they didn't really notice.

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 1 

Bobby Drake drove up the long driveway to the X-Mansion in the beat-up old Pinto he'd bought when he first started college.  The car Warren had bought him as a graduation present had long since been blown up by some supervillain or another; the one he'd bought himself to replace it had met a similar fate.  "So, we're back together again," he chuckled, stroking the steering wheel.  "That's ok, you work as well – or as badly – as you did six years ago."  The car obligingly backfired in protest, and he laughed.  Then he saw what remained of the school, winced, and thought, "Well, I guess you can never really go home again, huh?

The mansion was a mess.  No, that was putting it too gently, he decided.  It was a disaster.  The windows were smashed, the roof caved in over what had been Ororo's attic.  The grounds looked as if they'd come off the worse from an encounter with the Juggernaut.  Even the front door didn't look as if it was hanging quite right.

Bobby sighed.  He felt a bit guilty about not being there for the rest of the team when the recent attack by the Friends of Humanity had occurred.  They'd put the mansion to the torch, declaring that they'd get rid of those mutants once and for all.  "Morons," thought Bobby.  "Didn't even realize there ARE no more mutants."  Hank had called him after someone – he forgot who – had scared off the FOH losers with a holographic fire breathing dragon who had caused, in Hank's words, "a plethora of the ignorant marauders to suffer severe episodes of incontinence."  "I'd have like to have seen that," Bobby thought, grinning.  Perhaps he had a fellow prankster on the premises.  "But still…

He knew he'd made the right choice when he left.  He'd had to decide between his families – whether to stay with the X-Men, who were doing ok at the time, or to help his mom take care of his dad.  "Tough choice," he mumbled.  While he and his father had never been close, his dad did make a stand for him when things got tough.

But now his father was doing better – not fine, he'd probably never be "fine" again, but out of the hospital and back to puttering around the house.  The accounting customers he'd acquired while leading a "real" life were on maintenance basis – no major issues to deal with, just ongoing support.  And of course, the loss of his powers left him missing his friends all the more, and feeling guiltier about not being there when "they'd" needed him.

"Time to visit with Hank, drop twinkie wrappers on Jean's carpet, play a few tricks on Rogue just to prove I still have what it takes," he thought mischievously.  "Lend a hand with the repairs, too," he added as he parked the car far enough away from the mansion itself that it would be safe from potentially falling debris.  "Then again, maybe I should park closer and HOPE for falling debris – nah, check on the insurance first, Bobster.  If the mansion's in this bad of shape, the insurance may have lapsed.  Or more likely been cancelled." 

He got out of the car, and wandered up towards the door, noting as he did that all Ororo's ornamental grass had been ripped out or scorched by the battle.  He grinned.  "No allergy attacks this time!"  No great loss without some small gain, after all.  He'd heard Ororo was off at some camp with Sarah when the attack occurred; no doubt she'd have had everything replanted otherwise.

As he put his hand on the doorknob, it swung open abruptly, knocking him off the porch.  

"Hey!" he yelled, as he inventoried himself for broken bones and ripped pants.  "Where's the fire?  I would have thought inside, not out…" he trailed off as he saw a gorgeous face surrounded by flowing brown hair peering at him with a confused look.  "Umm, hi, have we met?" he stammered.

"I'm sooo sorry – I was, that is, I just thought I heard…who are you?" she asked curiously as she reached down to help him to his feet.  
  


"Nope, sorry, just me, your friendly neighborhood former Iceman.  Bobby Drake at your service, milady," he said with a small bow.  "And you're…"

"Kitty – I mean, Shadowcat – well, no I guess now it's just Kitty again," she said somewhat distractedly, glancing past him down the road.

"Hey cool!  You know, I think you're the only X-type I never met – umm, am I holding you up?  I mean," he said, trying to catch her eye, "if you were waiting for someone…"

"Oh, no – I mean, I was waiting for the mail, but it's really too early anyway.  I'm sorry," she added, really looking at him for the first time.  "I didn't mean to be rude.  I'm waiting for a package, and the mailman keeps thinking this place is deserted, so he sends it back, and then they re-send it, and…"

'Say something witty,' he thought to himself.  "Gotta make a good impression – my God, is she gorgeous!"  

"Gotta love the postal service, hey?  My parents have lived in their house for thirty years, but the mailman still manages to misdeliver the mail.  Drops it off next door, in fact.  Try UPS next time if you've got the choice – they seem to have better maps."

She grinned at him then, and said, "I'll try that next time.  But, you know, at least it's better than the British postal service.  They never COULD figure out how to deliver the mail to Excalibur's lighthouse when we lived there.  Meggan or Rachel would have to fly over to the mainland to pick it up every few days, and Meggan always got distracted flying back, so half the mail would end up in the Channel.  I remember one time –"

"Robert, my dear friend, I trust you had no difficulty finding out someone dilapidated but nonetheless reasonably comfortable abode?" Hank interrupted.  

"No, I got here just fine – I was just knocked off my feet when I arrived," Bobby replied, grinning at Kitty, who ducked her head a little self-consciously.

"Ah yes, the mansion has had better days," Hank replied, shaking his head.  "With the Professor in absentia, we're having difficulty accessing his accounts to pay the local tradesmen, and for some incomprehensible reason they're demanding recompense in advance.  But still, Robert, it's not as if you've never seen anything like this before…"

"Nope, nothing like this before," Bobby said absently, still looking at Kitty and smiling.  "But I like the view."


	2. Chapter 2

This story is mine.  Really, all mine.  Well, all the characters belong to Marvel, and I got part of the idea from a story by Mel (thanks, Mel!), but please don't sue me, it wouldn't be worth it.  Thanks to Luba, too for the beta read, the encouragement, and the list of Bobby's old girlfriends!

This story takes place not long after the High Evolutionary de-mutantized everyone, but Hank and Bobby (obviously) are not in Genosha. I don't KNOW that Bobby and Kitty have never met, but I'm assuming they haven't, or that, if they have, it was either in the middle of a battle or at Scott and Jean's wedding and they didn't really notice.

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 2 

"Hey Hank, whatcha doin'?" asked Bobby, as he wandered into Hank's lab.

"Hello Robert," Hank replied, looking up from his microscope.  "I'm attempted to recalibrate the magnification of this undoubtedly valuable but somewhat antiquated piece of equipment, as –"

"Come on Hank, it's me!  English, please?" whined Bobby playfully.  "You know our agreement, no more than one three syllable word in a sentence."

Hank looked at him woundedly.  "But Bobby, you know it's for your own good.  An enhanced vocabulary is a sign of –"

"Someone who can't talk English that anyone can understand.  Humor me, ok?  I haven't had my coffee yet this morning," Bobby replied, yawning.

Actually, it was more lack of sleep than lack of coffee that had him yawning.  He'd lain awake most of the night, Kitty's face floating past his eyes while he reconstructed their whole conversation, concluding that she probably thought he was an idiot.  He leaned back against the seat of a stool, poising himself to nonchalantly bring up the topic he wanted to discuss.

Hank signed.  "All right, Bobby.  I'm trying to adjust this microscope, which is very old and much in need of repair.  Better?  Or shall I try to simplify it further?

Bobby grinned.  "Much better, thanks.  What happened to your old equipment?  This lab's pretty bare…"

"Casualties of war, my friend.  I lost much of it some time ago to Bastion, and more was damaged by the fire, which, while it was unable to penetrate the immediate area, nonetheless generated sufficient heat –"

"You're creeping up on a multisyllabic attack again…"

"Made things hot enough to damage a lot of the higher end equipment, so I'm attempting to make do.  Satisfied?" Hank concluded, looking at Bobby with a somewhat smug look.

"Much better, there may be hope for you yet.  Data survive intact?"

"Thankfully, yes.  I thought some of the Legacy virus data was lost, but it was admirably reconstructed by our young Shadowcat.  She's quite a genius with computers," Hank added, shaking his head in admiration.  "Not only did she get the systems back up on line, but she also made some improvements to my database structure and integrity."

"Here's my opening," thought Bobby.  "Now, don't blow it."

"Shadowcat?  Oh, the girl who opened the door yesterday?"  Bobby asked innocently.

Hank glanced quickly at Bobby with a sparkle in his eyes, but masked it quickly.  "Yes, that would be her.  I forgot, you've never met before, have you?" he replied, turning back to his microscope.

"I don't think so.  Didn't she used to be with X-Force or something," answered Bobby, still trying not to sound too interested.

"Excalibur, my young friend, Excalibur.  Though she was with the X-Men before the massacre in the Morlock tunnels.  Honestly, Bobby, don't you ever look at the logs?" 

 "Come on Hank, you know me better than that.  Research?  Me?

Actually, he'd been doing that quite a bit last night, trying to find out as much as he could about Kitty, but the data he'd found had been terse reports of missions, not at all what he'd been looking for.  

Hank merely hmphed, gave the dial on the microscope a final spin, and sat down.

"Enough is as good as a feast, or, to put it more clearly, I've had it with that thing.  So, Bobby, what brings you to my humble yet reasonably comfortable laboratory so early in the morning?"  

"Just visiting, just visiting.  What were you saying about Excalibur?" Bobby said, trying desperately to direct the conversation back where he wanted it, namely, Kitty.  

"Excalibur?  Even you must be familiar with the term, if not the team complement.  King Arthur's sword, Camelot…"  

"Yeah, yeah Hank, got it.  I remember the Idylls of the King – you had to help me through it, but the story wasn't bad.  But you were talking about –"

"Ah yes, I remember that term paper," Hank mused.  "I believe you tried to justify that Tennyson was critical of male/female relationships because he was at heart a prude and quite possibly homosexual.  The professor was unamused, but I thought you did a marvelous job arguing your case, especially for your age."  

Bobby thought he recognized a mischievous twinkle in Hank's eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.  "No," he thought, "I'm being subtle here.  He 'can't' be catching on.  It's just my imagination."  But while part of him was still unsure, he was pulled into the topic change despite himself.

"I wasn't that young, was I?" Bobby said.   "I mean, I must have been about sixteen by then…"

"Only compared to the rest of us," Hank reassured him.  "Of course, you were the youngest, so it's hard to remember you as other than a somewhat mischievous early teen."

"Yup, that's me, poster child for the youngest X-Man ever," Bobby said, somewhat disgruntled.  "No one EVER takes me seriously."

"I thought that was your goal?  Besides, you aren't the youngest X-Man ever – or at least, not by yourself.  Kitty shares that distinction with you."1

"Really?"  Bobby asked, surprised.  "I was only thirteen when I came to Xavier's.  I remember Scott, at least, was opposed to my inclusion in the team.  She was that young?"

"I believe so.  I was with the Avengers at the time, you understand, but I remember Scott discussing the new teammate.  You'd just started college, I believe.  He said she was one of the smartest kids he had ever met, though she had quite a temper.  He wasn't sure that Xavier's allowing her to join the X-Men was appropriate, given her age.  As you mentioned, he had a problem putting those he saw as children in danger."  They grew quiet for a bit, both remembering their friend, now lost in battle with Apocalypse.  Bobby had gone back home direct from Egypt, and they hadn't had time to really talk since.

"I'm surprised Xavier allowed it," Bobby finally said.  "That whole team was older than we were when we started out, and I got the impression he preferred it that way.  Not," he put his hand up to stop Hank as his friend tried to interject, "that he didn't enjoy teaching, just that I think he always had qualms about sending kids into dangerous situations."

"Ah, but as you say, he was always a teacher at heart, and I believe he felt the young Shadowcat needed the X-Men as much, if not more, than they needed her.  He did attempt to remove her from the team when the New Mutants – you recognize the term, I hope, but I refer to the next class to go through the school – arrived on the scene, but I believe she fought the demotion most vehemently.  Eventually, she convinced him that she belonged with the X-Men, and he reinstated her despite her youth.  Not long after, he departed for Shi'ar space, leaving the X-Men in Magneto's then fairly capable hands."

"I never quite understood that, either."

"Well, I never have myself, I admit.  But from all accounts I have heard, Magneto 'was' an excellent teacher, if a bit lacking in disciplinary skills.  Still, friend or no, I don't believe I could have left the X-Men and New Mutants in his custody."

"Well, the X-Men disappeared not long after he took over, didn't they?  The whole road trip to Australia thing.  Isn't that when Excalibur was formed?  And, to show you I 'do' occasionally read the logs, the original team consisted of Nightcrawler, Rachel, Kitty –

"Yes, that was a confusing time for all.  To mourn one's friends as dead is a tragedy, but to have them reappear, while certainly a time for rejoicing, leaves one with the feeling the he or she expended a great deal of energy despairing for no reason."  

"I'm surprised Excalibur didn't disband and return then," Bobby replied, trying desperately to get the conversation back on track.  He was almost certain now that Hank was pulling his chain, and he was starting to sweat, a disconcerting occurrence for someone who until recently could control his body temperature without thinking about it.  "After all, if they only formed Excalibur because they believed the X-Men were gone –"

"Do I detect a relatively subtle effort to turn the conversation back to our illustrious young Shadowcat?  Or is my imagination perhaps running wild today?" asked Hank, drumming his fingers on the countertop beside him and grinning.

Bobby mumbled something noncommittal.

"Now, now, Bobby.  Have I not always been your confidant in the past?"

"Only when Rogue was unavailable.  Where is she, anyway?"

"As to your first comment, it is unfair, and I hope, untrue, as we have been friends for far longer than Rogue has been among us.   As to your second," Beast continued, now counting on his fingers, "she and Remy are enjoying a little personal time –"

"Cool.  I thought of her the first time I tried to ice up and couldn't," Bobby interjected, taking advantage of the opportunity to change the subject.  "What a lucky break!  If anyone asked me who benefited most from the loss of their powers, I'd say her in a heartbeat.  That Cajun's a lucky guy –"

"Robert?"

"Yes, Hank?"

"You are definitely trying to change the subject, aren't you?"

"Yes, Hank," Bobby sighed in resignation.

"Want to tell me about it instead?"

"Will you give it a break if I say no?"

"Of course not."

Bobby sighed melodramatically, and looked at Hank sitting across from him.  After so many years of seeing his friend with blue fur and fangs, his human appearance still surprised him at times, but it was something he felt comfortable with, and he knew that Hank was happy about it.  "Ok, I give.  I haven't been able to think of anything else since she nearly ran me over yesterday."

"Really?" Hank replied, his eyes sparkling.  "And why is that?"

"Oh, I dunno – maybe because I've never met anyone like her before.  She's funny, she's smart, she laughed at my jokes, she's absolutely gorgeous…" 

"As  was Zelda.  And Lorna.  And Darkstar.  And Cloud.  And Marge.   And Lev.  And Infectia.  And of course Opal – shall I continue?"

"Come on, Hank!  I'm not kidding here!" Bobby stood up, angrily brushing Hank's hand aside as the latter reached out as if to calm him.  "I think I could really get to like this girl.  Who knows, maybe she'd even like me.  I know you might think that's impossible, but -"

"Actually no, I don't.  But I do have two things to say."

"Which are?" Bobby asked, calming down a bit and sitting back down on his stool.

"Please keep in mind that while Kitty is undoubtedly a rare beauty, very intelligent, and considerably more mature than you are, she is chronologically four years your junior.  She is also very close with Logan, not the most emotionally stable of guardians at the best of times."

"Point taken," Bobby said, wincing slightly at the thought of Logan's reaction to his interest in Kitty.  "What's the second?"

"Why, simply endeavor not to do anything I wouldn't do.  And, my friend," Beast added, leaning over to place his hand on Bobby's shoulder, "Good luck."

1 I'm a firm believer that Jubilee was about fifteen when she first encountered the X-Men.  Perhaps she was later de-aged in a yet unchronicled villainous attack.


	3. Chapter 3

This story is mine.  Really, all mine.  Well, all the characters belong to Marvel, and I got part of the idea from a story by Mel (thanks, Mel!), but please don't sue me, it wouldn't be worth it.  Thanks to Luba, too for the beta read and encouragement!

This story takes place not long after the High Evolutionary de-mutantized everyone, but Hank and Bobby (obviously) are not in Genosha, and the Genoshan mutants are not mutating out of control.  Thus, the impetus for the X-Men to confront the High Evolutionary is missing…

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 3 

"Knock, knock – Kurt, are you awake?"

Kurt Wagner rubbed at his eyes and glanced at his alarm clock, then muttered a curse under his breath in German.  Granted, at 8:00 in the morning he could normally be found doing his workout in the now little used danger room, but he normally got to bed before 3:00, too.  The seminary, he decided as he pulled the pillow over his head, gave out far too much homework.

"Come on, Kurt, it's me, Kitty.  Are you awake or should I come back later?"

Kurt considered his options.  Granted, Kitty 'would' be as good as her word – if she left, she'd wait a couple of hours before coming back, which was more than he could say for many of the inhabitants of the mansion.  On the other hand, she sounded a bit upset, as if she'd had to work up the courage to come and speak with him about something, and he hated to turn her away.

"Nein, Katzchen, I'm awake.  More or less, anyway.  Could you give me a moment to pull on some clothes, though?"  He heard a giggle, quickly stifled, before her reply.

"Aw Kurt, you're just no fun since you decided to study for the priesthood.  Should I come back in fifteen minutes?  Or did you want to catch a shower?"

"Is the hot water fixed yet?"

"No."

"Grrr."  Kurt grumbled as he climbed out of bed and wrapped a bathrobe around himself.  "I may be willing to get up for you, liebchen, but an icy shower on top of it?  No.  I definitely need some coffee first.  I'll tell you what – if you don't mind, could you bring up a cup?  By the time you return, I promise to be presentable."

"That'd be a first!  Back in five, then," she added quickly, before his sleep-deprived mind could formulate a witty reply.

Kurt rubbed his hand through his hair, marveling again at how different it felt to run five fingers through hair that stopped at his forehead.  He wasn't entirely sure he liked being a "regular guy".  While it was certainly nice to be able to blend into a crowd, he'd done that easily enough with an image inducer anyway.  The loss of a great deal of his agility and the practice it had taken to adjust to the change in his balance made it all seem a mixed blessing.  He knew Kitty felt the same – she told him about the number of times she'd walked into doors the first weeks, so accustomed was she to walking through them instead.  

He wondered what brought her to his door this morning as he hastily donned a t-shirt and sweatpants.  She hadn't sounded upset, he decided, but she certainly sounded as if she had something important to discuss.  

It had been hard for her, he knew, to return to the mansion.  She'd initially returned to her old room, but after only one night had moved down the hall to one that had been vacant for as long as he could remember.  Too many ghosts, she'd said, and he thought he understood.  The last time she'd actually lived here she'd been sharing a room with Illyana, and Doug Ramsey'd been in the adjacent wing.  "Both gone", he sighed.  Far too many gone.

A knock at the door brought him back to the present.  

"So, Kurt, are you decent yet?  Or should I wait until you're ordained?"

"Hah, hah, Katzchen, very funny.  Do you think that would be long enough?  No, seriously, come on in."

Kitty opened the door, carrying in one hand a tray with two cups of coffee as well as some toast, fresh fruit, and juice.  She looked somewhat preoccupied, but, he congratulated himself, not upset.  She glanced down at the table spread out with various books, notes, and crumpled paper, and asked, "Where can I put this?"

"Sorry, Kitty, I wasn't thinking.  Here," he replied, sweeping it all into a pile.  "What brings you here this morning?"

"I wanted to ask you a question.  I need an honest opinion, and I know you'll give me one.  Won't you?"  She looked a bit apprehensive now, and Kurt wondered why.

"How long have you known me?" he replied, his eyes searching her face.

"Five, no, six years I think.  Why?"

"Have you ever known me to be less than honest with you?"

"No."

"Well then, why would I start now?  Go ahead," he continued, sitting down and beginning to peel an orange, "ask away."

"Okay, then," Kitty said, nervously drumming her hands on her coffee cup, then taking a deep breath and  looking him square in the eyes.

"Do you think I'm pretty?  And would you go out with me?"

"What Katzchen, I never knew you cared!" he answered jovially, taken by surprise by the question.  "You should have…no, liebchen, I'm sorry.  You're serious, aren't you?" he added, as she blushed.

"Very."  She looked upset now, as if she felt this had been a bad idea.

"Before I answer, may I ask why you're asking?"

"I'd rather hear your answer, first."

"All right then."  Kurt leaned back in his chair, and pretended to look at her critically.  "Beautiful hair frames a pixie face.  A petite body which masks the strength and training of a ninja.  Yes, Kitty, despite the vows I plan to take, and those I have already taken, I must say, I do think you're pretty.  As did Peter, Doug Ramsey, Alisdair Stewart, the crown prince of an alternate Britain, Pete Wisdom, and that SHIELD intern you met last year, just to name a few.  If it weren't for my vows, and the fact I consider you a very close friend, I would certainly be interested in going out with you, as you put it.  I assume that's the question you meant to ask, yes?  Now, can you tell me what this is about?  For," he added jokingly, "if you have come to seduce me, I do have a prior obligation."

"Oh you!" Kitty laughed.  "Even if you were to renounce your calling, I'd have to beat a path to your door.  Right behind Cerise and Amanda, and who knows how many others.  No," she continued more seriously.  "It's just, well, I don't have a very good track record with relationships, you know?"

"Neither do I, if you think about it."

"None of your ex's are dead, either."

"No, but it's been close a few times, true?  Add in that Cerise is now with the Shi'ar, and Amanda in Limbo…"

"It's not the same," she replied, rubbing her hand through her hair.  "They're still alive, and they could come back.  In both cases, they'd probably both be willing to pick up where you left off, true?"

"Do you think that death changes that?  That if Doug, or Pete, or that officer you told me about that you and Rachel met in World War II Britain, could return from the dead, they wouldn't be interested in you anymore?" he answered seriously.

"I – I don't know.  Doug and I never really dated, you know.  We were just the team supreme, computer hackers extraordinaire.  Emma Frost once said he was in love with me, but I was never sure if I should believe her or not."

"Just because you hadn't reached that stage in your relationship doesn't mean it might not have happened, you know," Kurt replied gently, reaching out to touch her hand.  "I'm almost certain it would have, had you not been dating Peter at the time."

"Who dumped me for an alien healer he couldn't even communicate with," she retorted.

"His problem, not yours.  And no," he interjected as she opened her mouth to object, "let's be honest.  Peter has a knack for wanting things he can't have.  And remember, he did come back to you, didn't he?  Too late, far too late, but he did come back."

"Yeah, I know.  Pete wouldn't, though.  I didn't even know he was with X-Force until we got their message."

"Well, liebchen, Pete had his own ghosts to fight.  And don't be so sure he was unaffected by your breakup, either.  I never told you," Kurt said seriously, "but Meggan went to see him not long after we left Britain."

"She did?  What did he say?  Why didn't she tell me?" Kitty asked angrily.  

"Well, as I understand it, he didn't say much, being rather too intoxicated to make much sense.  Meggan did say he kept muttering about how he wasn't good enough for you, and how he always knew salvation couldn't be that easy.  She didn't tell you," he added as she began to look upset, "because when she returned later, he'd checked out of the hotel she'd found him in, and she didn't want you to worry.  By the time she told me, we'd already received the news from X-Force, and I didn't see any point in troubling you."

"I kind of wish you hadn't, now," she said, obviously disturbed.  "Do you think, if I hadn't broken up with him…"

"He might still be alive?  Perhaps.  Or he might still be dead, and you with him.  Or you might have broken up over something else.  Your relationship was already strained, by that point.  Perhaps applies only to the future, never to the past."

"Well, except for Rachel."

"Even for Rachel.  Even Rachel, with her temporal powers, could not change things that had already occurred in her personal past.  Do you think if that hadn't been the case she wouldn't have tried to save the X-Men?  Or Franklin Richards?  But we're getting off the subject.  If not for a sudden desire to seduce my irresistible but unavailable self, why all these questions?  Did you meet someone at the University?"

"No," she laughed.  "Or not really, anyway.  A couple of guys have asked me out, but I've turned them down.  No, I take that back, I went out for pizza with one, but we just weren't on the same wavelength."

"It must be hard, trying to talk to 'outsiders', so to speak."

"How'd you guess?  I mean, how do I answer questions about what I've been doing the last six years without revealing that I was a mutant who belonged to the X-Men and Excalibur.  Despite being powerless now, even former mutants are targets, as the recent FOH attack demonstrates.  And let's face it, most 19 year olds haven't been out of the country, let alone the galaxy.  It makes it a bit difficult to find a common frame of reference."

"I can understand that.  It's funny," Kurt mused.  "Most of us used to date outside the superhuman community.  Oh, not Scott and Jean of course, but the rest of us.  We didn't hide what we were from our significant others, but it didn't seem to matter as much.  I'm not sure when or how that changed.  But, back to the issue at hand, if not someone at school, then who?"

"Umm, Bobby Drake."

"Bobby?" Kurt nearly stabbed himself with his orange peeler in shock.  Laying it on the table, he continued, "You're joking, correct?  Why, you've known him – no, you haven't, have you?  He left the X-Men before you joined the team, and by the time he returned we were in Britain.  But I thought you'd met at Scott and Jean's wedding, at least?"

"We might have, I suppose.  I was pretty busy videotaping, so I didn't really talk to anyone, and when I did, it was mostly the former New Mutants.  But what's wrong with Bobby?  I just met him yesterday," she continued, watching Kurt's face carefully, "but he seems nice."

"Nothing's wrong with him, I guess, you just took me by surprise.  Yes, Katzchen, he is very nice, and has quite a sense of humor.  A bit warped, at times – I recall he once attempted to stick the tip of my tail in a bucket of ice water while I was sleeping to see if – well, anyway, that was some time ago.  I can't say I know him very well, actually.  He left for college shortly after I joined."

"He went to college?  A real college?" Kitty asked, surprised.

"Yes.  I think Jean said he majored in finance, or something dismal like that.  Quite a prodigy, now that I recall the conversation, he started college at seventeen.  Though I believe he was ahead in his studies from being forced by circumstance to attend classes with Jean, Scott, Hank, etc."

"Oh, he was with the first class of the X-Men then – I guess I didn't put two and two together."  She looked disappointed.  "He was probably just joking, then – all of them still see me as a kid."

"Well, they see me much the same way, despite my obvious decrepitude."  As Kitty snorted, he added, "But then, given the way Jean spoke of him, they see Bobby much the same way."

"Why?  He was one of their class, after all."

"For the same reason Wolverine and Storm have had a hard time realizing you've grown into the beautiful young woman you are.  He was the baby of the class, a couple of years younger than the others.  That's a tough mental adjustment to make."

"Hmmm," Kitty chuckled.  "So we do have something in common, at least.  That's a start."  She stood up, then leaned over and kissed Kurt on the cheek.  "Thanks, fuzzy elf, I needed that."

"You're welcome.  But while I appreciate the sentiment, I don't thing the term applies any more," he replied with a grin.

"Sure it does.  You haven't shaved yet this morning!"  And, laughing, she turned and walked into the door, winced, opened it, and walked out, her shoulders squared against his laughter.

"Ah, the joys of being a baseline human," Kurt said to himself with a chuckle.  "Bruises for Kitty, and, almost certainly, razor burns for me."  He sighed, picked up his bathrobe, and went to confront the icy shower that awaited him.


	4. Chapter 4

This story is mine.  Really, all mine.  Well, all the characters belong to Marvel, and I got part of the idea from a story by Mel (thanks, Mel!), but please don't sue me, it wouldn't be worth it.  Thanks to Luba, too for the beta read and encouragement!

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 4 

Kitty Pryde walked down the corridor from Kurt's room rubbing her nose, his laughter still ringing in her ears.  "I really, really hate doing that," she muttered to herself, glancing at her hand to make sure her nose wasn't bleeding.  "It's been months!  And I **still** walk into things whenever I get distracted!"

Distracted was an understatement, she mused.  Why, why was she getting so preoccupied about a simple compliment?  "He probably didn't mean anything by it, anyway," she told herself firmly.  "Katherine Pryde, get your act together.  You're acting as if you were still fourteen years old.   Just because he's about the best looking guy you've seen with the X-Men since Doug, has a great sense of humor, actually spent time in the **real** world, and doesn't make you feel like you're putting your foot in your mouth every two seconds – oh, who am I fooling anyway?  I like him.  So, what am I going to do about it?"

Kitty was still considering her options when she turned the corner.  The next thing she knew, she was more or less sitting on the floor, looking at an equally bemused Bobby Drake.

"We have **got** to stop meeting like this!" he said with a grin as he stood up and reached down to help her up.  "What will people say?"

"They'll say, 'Kitty's a klutz,' that's what", she replied as he pulled her to her feet.  "And they'll be right, too," she added, smiling.  She noticed suddenly that his hand was warm, that his grip on hers was strong but not pressing, and felt a brief surge of disappointment as he let go.  "I just cannot get used to this!  Before –" she glanced up at him, and saw him nod.  The whole former-mutant community now shared a new meaning for the word "before". "Before, when I got distracted, I turned intangible.  Annoying, sometimes, but at least I wasn't knocking anyone out."

"Might have been a bit disconcerting to the people you walked through, though," Bobby commented, his eyes half closed and his thumb and finger stroking his chin as if he were seriously considering it.  "Nah, I'd much rather have a gorgeous girl knock me off my feet than go right through me.  I'm used to them **looking** through me, you understand, but walking right through?  No, I think that would be too much for my already low self-esteem.  At least I know I've got your attention!"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Kitty answered smiling, then winced a bit as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"Hey, are you okay?" Bobby asked, his grin changing instantly to a look of concern.  "Maybe we should take you to see Hank?  I'm so sorry – here I am joking and you're hurt…"

"No, really, I'm ok – I just twisted my ankle a bit.  Don't worry," she added, seeing that he still appeared upset.  "I do this like, three or four times a day, at least.  Not people usually – just walls, desks, you name it.  You'd think, after being Wolverine's sparring partner for so long, that I'd be used to bruises!"

"Still, you should really get off your foot, at least for a bit.  How about a coffee?  There's probably still some left from breakfast, or I can make a pot?  It's the least I can do, after all," he pleaded.  "Come on, you wouldn't want me to spend the rest of the day moping around feeling guilty when you could have me as your willing slave instead, would you?"  

Kitty laughed, thought briefly about the coffee she'd just had with Kurt, and dismissed the thought at once.  "No, I couldn't be responsible for that," she agreed.  "After all, who knows what **you'd** walk into if you were that distracted!"

"See?  I knew you'd come around.  Now, here," he said, putting his arm around her.  As Kitty leaned into him, she decided that perhaps walking into people wasn't so bad after all.

(Two cups of coffee later…)

"…so there we were, watching Hank give his first lecture on superhumans on the university lecture circuit, when out pops this guy dressed in a frog costume.  I mean, a frog costume, can you believe it?  While he's still trying to convince us we should let him join the Defenders, we're attacked by another guy dressed up like a walrus.  Had about the IQ of one, I'll give him that…"

Kitty grinned, half-listening to Bobby's story and half watching him tell it.  He used his whole body when he talked, she decided, ducking a bit to avoid his arm as he demonstrated the flight of the walrus-guy through a wall.  It was a nice body, too, she mused.  Slim without being skinny, not muscle-bound like so many of the X-Men.  She hadn't liked the latter since Piotr; maybe he'd turned her off to really big men.  While Bobby was taller than she was, he wasn't so tall that she got a kink in her neck looking up at him.  "Just about perfect," she decided, remembering how his arm had felt around her back, imagining she could she still felt the residual heat.  "Funny, you'd never think a guy named Iceman would be so warm.  Not that I'm complaining…"

"Hey, Earth to Kitty…" she heard, and blinked her eyes as Bobby waved his hand in front of them.  "Am I boring you?  I'm sorry – sometimes I get carried away."  He wasn't laughing, now – instead, he looked despondent, and Kitty felt a sharp pain of remorse.

"Oh, no, Bobby – no, really!" she stammered, as she could see he didn't believe her.  "No, my mind just wandered for a second – I really should get to work, although I'd much prefer to sit around here all day."

"Work?  Are you late – I could give you a ride if you need one," Bobby replied quickly.  "I'm sorry, I didn't know – most of the guys around here don't have jobs per se, so I just assumed…"

"Neither do I, though I've got some resumes out there.  No, I've just got some work to do on the security system - it's acquired an intermittent glitch that's got me worried.  I've been playing around with it in my spare time, but I had a paper due yesterday morning so I haven't worked on it for a few days."

"That's right – Hank said you were a real computer whiz.  Think you could take a look at my laptop later?  I installed an upgrade to my accounting software and now my modem keeps trying to dial out."

Kitty wasn't sure, but she suspected that there was absolutely nothing wrong with Bobby's laptop; he had that look on his face that she was beginning to associate with him thinking up mischief.  "Well, maybe there's nothing wrong with it now, but I bet there will be later," she mused.  "Gotta give him credit if he can manage it, though – most of the people around here wouldn't have a clue how to deliberately make their modem auto-dial randomly.  I wonder if he'll pull it off?"

"Sure.  This'll probably only take a couple of hours – you want to meet around three o'clock?" she replied, trying to sound casual while thinking about whether or not she could realistically do her homework while she troubleshot the computer system so that she wouldn't have to deal with it later.

"Three it is.  Want to meet in the library?  Or did you have somewhere else in mind?" he asked.  

Kitty bit back the answer she wanted to give, and said, "The library's fine.  I'll see you at three."  She got up from the table, tested her weight on her ankle and found that it no longer hurt and walked up to the door.  Very deliberately, she opened it before walking through, and was rewarded by the sound of hands clapping behind her.   
 

"This is not good.  This is really not good."

Kitty stared at the screen in front of her, her visual basic text book abandoned.  The evidence was all there, but it was hard to believe nonetheless.

"I really should have kept more on top of things," she told herself firmly.  "I knew the systems were in a shambles after the fire – I should have taken some time off from classes and got them repaired sooner."  She reminded herself that Jean had been unequivocally opposed to her taking a leave of absence from her studies, had in fact insisted that they be her first priority. 

"Yeah, and Jean understands computers, right?  No, Pryde, you've got no one to blame but yourself."

"I'll have to notify everyone immediately", she decided, and got up from the chair she'd been sitting on.  As she opened the door, she saw Bobby, his hand poised as if to knock.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you," he said, lowering his hand,  "I just wanted to let you know that if you were busy we could always do the laptop another time.  She glanced briefly at her watch, and saw that the digital display was blinking 4:15.

"Aww shit – Bobby, I'm **really** sorry, I didn't realize how late it was.  But I am going to have to take a rain check – we've got a biigg problem here."

"Anything I can do?" he asked, falling into step with her as she hurried down the hall.

"Yeah, see who you can round up for a meeting.  I'll go tell Jean myself – in case you didn't know, she's pretty much running things these days.  Tell them to meet in the briefing room in fifteen minutes, ok?"

"Your wish is my command, milady.  Want to give me a heads-up as to what the meeting's about?" he asked, and she could see the concern in his eyes.

"Well…" she stopped and turned to look up at him.  Something about him was so reassuring, and she found that she couldn't wait for the meeting, she had to tell someone.  Had to calm down and get things straight in her mind before she presented the info to the others, to Jean – they'd all had so much faith in her abilities…

"We've been hacked."

"Huh?"

"The legacy virus info, the mission logs, damn, probably even those damned Xavier protocols.  Someone's been into all of it.  Shit," she added, as she ran her hand up her forehead and through her hair, "someone's downloaded all of it.  I am such a fuckin' idiot!"

"Kitty…"

"Don't you dare tell me it's not my fault!" she yelled, stomping her foot.  "I **knew** we had system problems.  I **knew** there was a glitch in the security system.  Glitch, huh – actually, there was no security system.  Whoever it was shut the whole works down, and put in a subroutine that made things look as if it was running.  After making it glitch intermittently first – that's my favorite part – so that we wouldn't suspect anything.  So I wouldn't suspect anything.  And now…" she trailed off, shaking her head.

"Kitty." she heard again.  Bobby's warm hand lifted her chin so that she was facing him.  "It'll be ok.  Believe me."  He put his arms around her, and she found herself pressed against his chest, his fingers stroking her hair gently as the tears ran down her face.

"Just trust me, it'll be ok," he repeated quietly, and somehow, she found herself believing him. 


	5. Chapter 5

This story is mine.  Really, all mine.  Well, all the characters belong to Marvel, and I got part of the idea from a story by Mel (thanks, Mel!), but please don't sue me, it wouldn't be worth it.  Thanks to Luba, too for the beta read and encouragement!

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 5 

 "I just don't understand this- how could anyone get into our computer system?"

Kitty sighed, and began to explain the situation – again – to the assembled X-Men.

"They came in through the firewall.  While it's locked up pretty tight, we do have it setup to accommodate the VPN connection from Muir Island, and some RAS connections for X-Men who are elsewhere.  As far as I can tell, they inserted a virus that captured the exact settings of the Muir Island security setup, then they duped it.  This should not, I might add, have been possible, so we may be dealing with technology we've never encountered before."

"What about the Shi'ar technology?  Shouldn't that have kept them out?"  
  


Bobby saw Kitty take another deep breath before continuing.  He felt sorry for her, and part of him wanted to rush to the front of the room, where she was very competently leading a discussion of the current problem, and either tell everyone to shut up or to take her away from it all.  "Like she'd appreciate that," he told himself.  "No, she made it quite clear that she wanted to handle this herself."

She had, too.  While he thought that he may have – possibly – helped her calm down a bit, she'd refused his offer to let the others know what had happened.  "I screwed up," she insisted, "not you.  I'm the one who has to tell them.  Besides – no offense – I don't know that you could explain it.  I know I can."

He couldn't, he had to admit.  And even if he could have, no one would have believed him, anyway.  Not Bobby Drake, practical joker and slacker, extraordinaire.  He couldn't believe how competent Kitty appeared, fielding questions from her teammates who, for the most part, barely knew how to send e-mail.  The same questions.  Over and over again.

"But who was it?  Why can't you tell?"

Another deep breath.  Despite himself, he had to admire the view when she inhaled like that.  He'd lost track, but he thought that had been deep breath number 42.

"I don't know yet, not with any certainty.  As I said, we're not dealing with Microsoft technology here.  I have a subroutine running even now that is attempting to trace the invader back to its point of origin, but it'll be a few hours before it has any results."

"Will that work?  I don't understand how you let this happen," Warren asked bitingly.  "I knew we should have brought in some professionals…"

"Well, Warren, if you and your lady-love hadn't taken off on an extended vacation and not let anyone know how to reach you, maybe we'd have had the necessary wherewithal to pay for professionals…or more importantly, repairs to the mansion", replied Kurt.  

"Why you…"

"Thank you, Kitty," said Jean, standing up tiredly and addressing the others in the room.  "I appreciate your bringing this to our attention.  One last question – to your knowledge, has any of the data been lost?"

"That's the interesting thing, Jean.  It doesn't appear that anything was damaged.  Just copied.  It's as if someone wanted to learn as much as possible about us without harming anything."

"Or perhaps they are just trying to prepare themselves for a physical attack.  The Xavier protocols were designed for that, correct?  I have never understood why the Professor created them, and I don't understand why they weren't destroyed when discovered."  This came from Peter Rasputin, who, Bobby noted, had been the principal whiner throughout the meeting.

It was Jean's turn to take a deep breath.  "I understand your concerns, Peter, and I share them.  However, given the current situation, there are items of greater importance than even the Xavier protocols.  Given that they were created to provide information on how to destroy us **as mutants**, and given that they were not kept up-to-date in any case, and given that none of us now have our mutant abilities, they would be of limited use to anyone.  Or at least," she added, holding up her hand as Peter began to object, "of no more use than our accounting records, which contain our names and code-names."  

"Ah, so someone finally knows that I was once the swashbuckling Nightcrawler," Kurt inserted in an attempt at levity.  "While they may die of jealousy, I don't see how it would really affect me at this time."

"Kurt, everyone in Britain knew you were the swashbuckling Nightcrawler," Rogue teased.  She and Remy had pulled into the driveway just as Bobby had been rounding up everyone on repair detail for the meeting.  "I'm just glad the Professor never put my real name in the database – if I can't handle mah friends knowing it, I certainly don't want mah enemies to."

"Gonna share it with me, one of these days, chere?" Remy asked, elbowing her in the side.

"Don't hold your breath, Cajun."

Hank cleared his throat loudly, and said, "Returning the meeting to a more serious note, I believe you are mistaken, Kurt, and you as well, Jean.  While you are undoubtedly correct in pointing out that the revelation of our identities in view of our now-defunct mutant abilities is of somewhat less urgency than it would have been only months ago, I believe it could be of vital importance in the future.  We have no way of knowing, after all, whether or not our mutant powers will be restored at some juncture.  If that should occur, the loss of this data to entities unknown could be critical.  The Legacy research could also be deadly, if it fell into the wrong hands, as it presumedly has."

"What about e-mail?" Rogue asked abruptly.

"What about it?"  Kitty replied, puzzled.

"Whoever broke in – can they read our e-mail?"

"I suppose…"

"Aww, shit."

"Oh no, chere – don't tell me you didn't delete any of them e-mail I sent you?"

"You can delete e-mail?"

Jean cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.  "As I was saying, a bigger concern is that we might as well consider our private identities public knowledge.  Until we know for certain who hacked into our systems, we need to be prepared for anyone with a grudge against the X-Men to take this opportunity for revenge.  We also need to be concerned about possible criminal charges for some of our prior activities.  The Professor was working with someone in Washington to clear those up, but I don't know for certain how far along he was in the process, and his contacts there aren't answering my calls."

"So what'da we do now?" Rogue asked.

"Kitty, you'll continue to monitor the situation on the computer side, right?" Jean asked.

"Of course," Kitty replied, sounding surprised.  Given their earlier discussion, and some of the remarks her teammates had made, Bobby thought she probably was.  She'd fully expected them to toss her out of the mansion.  As if everyone here hadn't made mistakes of their own.  Him especially.

"Hank, would you be willing to give Kitty a hand?" Jean asked, but just as Hank began to reply, Bobby heard his own voice saying, "I will."

Everyone turned to look at him. "Bobby, I know you mean well," said Jean, "but Hank has considerably…"

"Bobster, you're jokin' right?" asked Rogue.  "Putting up nude pictures of Betsy on your web site hardly qualifies you for…"

"What?" interjected Betsy.  "You remove those immediately!"

"Drake, what are you thinking?  You, work on the mansion's security system?  It's not bad enough her incompetence got us into this situation, now you're going to 'help'?  And what are you doing with nude pictures of Betsy?" asked Warren furiously.

"Hold on a minute," Kitty said angrily, just as a real debate broke out and Bobby felt as if he was going to dissolve into the floor.  "I could use another pair of hands.  For all Hank's genius," and Hank tipped an imaginary hat, "he's a computer user, not an engineer."

"True, fair Shadowcat.  You are as wise as you are lovely and competent," Hank replied, casting a glare at Warren. 

"If Bobby's willing, I'd like him to help.  The fact that he has put up a web site means he knows more about computers than most of the people here, no offense meant."

"And none taken, Kitty," Jean replied, still looking dazed, Bobby thought, by the idea that Bobby may have actually touched a computer for something other than role playing games.  "You and Bobby work on the computer side of things, then.  Betsy, you and…"

"Me," Logan inserted, walking into the room.  He was looking much the worse for wear, Bobby saw, but he still felt a shiver up his spine at the thought of Logan's reaction to his interest in Kitty.

"That is, darlin'," he directed toward Jean, "assuming you were going to ask her to setup some extra security.  Just in case."  The whole room fell silent.

"Are you sure you're up to it?" Jean asked, worriedly.  Bobby wondered what was wrong with Logan that no one had clued him in on.

"Always ready for a scrap, you know that, Red."

"All right, then.  Betsy, you and Logan work out a plan for securing the grounds.  Hank, please check the other security equipment to ensure it hasn't been tampered with.  The rest of you, consider yourselves on call.  And keep me posted with any updates.  Meeting adjourned.  Logan, come with me for a moment, please."  At that, Jean stood up and left the room, Logan following.

Everyone else began to file out, talking amongst themselves.  Betsy cast Bobby a dirty look as she walked past, Warren glared, Hank winked at him and grinned but said nothing, but Rogue stopped for a moment, laying her hand on his arm.

"Ah'm sorry, Bobby.  That was outta line, but I was just joking.  Didn't think the others'd chime in.  Come find me later, ok?  We'll have us a good catch up talk."

"Sure thing, Rogue," Bobby replied, but his heart wasn't in it.  They were right, all of them.  This was a critical job.  What was he doing volunteering for it?  "I'd have been better off," he thought wryly, "offering to bring up coffee and donuts.  More my speed, after all."

"Bobby?" He pulled himself out of his self-doubt to see who was addressing him, and was surprised to see it was Kitty.

"Hi, Kit."

"I just wanted to say thank you," she said quietly.  "I mean, for your support – I don't think I could have made it through this without you.  Every time I looked out at everyone, you were there, and you looked so confident, I felt like I could get through this."

"Hey, anytime," Bobby replied, feeling like a heel, his self-doubts growing by the minute.  Him, confident?  She'd been so self-assured up there.  So confident.  Everything that he wasn't.  Who was he fooling, thinking she'd be interested in him?  "Look, I know you really don't need my help – maybe Hank would be a better…"

"No."

"Huh?"  He'd been prepared for her to accept his withdrawal graciously, relieved that she'd get some knowledgeable assistance.  He looked at her, and she smiled, though he could see her eyes were clouded.

"I said no, and I meant it.  You offered to help, and I need all the help I can get.  Besides, no one treats one of my friends like that.  Not even my other teammates."

"I don't understand…" Bobby said.

"Look at you," Kitty replied, angrily.  He looked at her, instead, and saw that the anger wasn't directed at him.  "They do that to me all the time, too.  Just a kid, after all.  We're not, though, and they've got to accept that.  Bobby, when I explained what happened to you, you knew what I meant.  Ok, Hank did too, but Hank understands damn near everything.  I had to explain it to Jean twice before we even came down to the meeting, and I'm not sure anyone else followed more than half."

"I need you, Bobby.  I need your help, but I also need," she paused a moment, as if considering her next words. "I need your support.  I need to know that someone thinks I can make this right.  They don't," she waved her hand dismissively at the department X-Men.  Oh, Kurt does, sure – we've worked together enough that he knows what I can do.  The rest?  Hardly.  But you do.  I'm not sure why, but you do."

"I know you can," Bobby replied, a lump in his throat.  

"And I know you can, too.  So, let's prove it to the rest of them, ok?  I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being treated like a kid."

"It's a deal," Bobby said, and draped his arm around her shoulders.  "So, where do we start?"


	6. Chapter 6

This story is mine.  Really, all mine.  Well, all the characters belong to Marvel, "Shrek" belongs to DreamWorks, and the songs cited (and sung) are the properties of their creators, whoever they are, but please don't sue me, it wouldn't be worth it.  Thanks to Luba, too for the beta read and encouragement!

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 6 

Kitty walked with Bobby, his arm still around her shoulders, down the hallway to the stairs that led down to the room that housed the mansion's computer systems.  She was still angry – angry with herself for allowing the systems to be hacked, angry with the others for not being able to understand the problem without having it explained twenty plus times, angry about Piotr's snide comments.  "As if," she thought to herself with a sniff, "he's trying to get revenge on me for not taking him back by undermining everything I say.  What a guy!" Reflecting that even in the days she idolized him, he'd been petty and insecure, she went back to mentally listing the things she was angry about.

"Warren," she thought.  What an ass.  "'I knew we should have brought in some professionals' – as if he'd been here when the mansion got burned.  As if he even gave a second thought to the computer system.   I'm not sure he even knew we have a computer system.  Shit, it's bad enough he bashed me, he barely knows me, but I always heard he and Bobby were friends."

That was the heart of it, she decided, glancing at the tall man beside her, who looked as if he were making a list of his own.  For all she'd just met him yesterday – yesterday! - she had very warm feelings for Bobby Drake.  There was something about him that just made her want to protect him.  While she put up with a lot from the older residents of the mansion herself, frequently biting her lip and thinking longingly of the days back in England with Excalibur, no one treated one of her friends like that and got away with it.

She didn't understand Warren's attitude, or that of the others who'd been on the same track.  Sure, Bobby was a self-admitted practical joker.  He told a great joke, too.  But Hank was nearly as bad, and everyone took Hank seriously when he wanted them to.

Oh well.  They'd show Warren, and Peter, and everyone else.  She slid her arm around Bobby's waist, and was rewarded by a quick squeeze of her shoulder.

"We'll show them all," she thought again, and paused to open the door to the computer room.

Four hours later, she was no longer quite so sure.

"I don't get it," she complained to Bobby, who had his feet kicked up on the desk and a stack of printouts on top of his legs while he ran his finger down a column of text on the top form.  "The routines I set in place can't trace the route.  Or at least, they trace it part way, but it's clear they don't originate from there."

"How do you know?" Bobby asked, raising his eyes from the printout, where he was trying to determine which systems had been accessed and which hadn't.

"Because, I – oh, damn, I don't know," Kitty replied, rubbing her hand through her bangs.  "I am soooo tired, this isn't making a whole lot of sense any more."

"So let's take a break."

"What?" Kitty, replied, her eyes staring at the last printout in front of her as if the characters were going to rearrange themselves into the answer.

"A break?  You know, where you get up, walk around, get a soda…you've heard of the concept, right?"  Bobby replied.  He'd apparently worked himself through the internal debate he'd been having earlier, because he sounded much more like himself, Kitty decided.  And a break did sound good…

"No, go ahead," she decided.  "I want to run through this one more time.  Maybe if I change the parameters here?" she continued, pointing at the screen.  Bobby put the printouts on the desk, and stood over her shoulder to look where she was pointing.  He shook his head.

"If you change those, you'll run the same trace we ran four back, remember?  Come on; let's get out of here for a bit.  If it'll make you feel better, we can take the printouts with us.  Maybe something will jump out of the stack."  He leaned over to pick up the stack in front of her, and unearthed the textbooks she'd brought along earlier to study.

"Russian lit?"

"Yeah, had to fulfill my humanities requirements."  Kitty replied, still engrossed in the data on the screen.

"It makes more sense in the original than the translation," he said absently, now thumbing through her Visual Basic book.  "Hey, can I borrow this when your class is done?" he asked.

"What? Yeah, sure – what do you mean, it makes more sense in the original than the translation?"

"They always leave something out when they translate, and it changes the meaning.  What version of the software do you need to run the tutorials?"

"6.0.  I can get you a copy, if you need one.  But…" she spun around, and looked at him for the first time in hours.  "You can read Russian?"

"Yeah, the Prof taught me so I could read stories to the munchkin.  I've got the software already, but the "Learn Visual Basic in 7 Days" book I bought online isn't all that great.  Is this one any good?" he asked.

"Illyana?"

"Yeah," Bobby replied, looking sheepish.  "I felt sorry for her – she seemed so lonely, and I used to go sit with her, but she didn't understand what I was saying.  I suggested the Prof teach her English instead of teaching me Russian – I mean, instant brain dump – but he said he'd never been able to enter her mind, even when she was here before.  What was up with that, anyway?  I mean, there were all kinds of stories floating around about her, but I never got it straight.  You were here then, right?  Clue me in."

When Kitty shook her head, he pulled a chair in front of her and sat down on it backwards, resting his elbows on its back.

"Kit?  Are you okay?" he asked, and she looked up from the floor that she'd been staring at without seeing.  

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, that's not it," Kitty replied.  "I was just thinking, I guess."

"About the system?  You'll figure it out, you just need a break," Bobby said, rubbing her shoulder.  She tipped her head onto his hand, and felt him stroke her hair.

"Yeah, I know, it's just a pain.  And I hate taking breaks, I feel like I'm giving up.  No, I was thinking about Illyana.  It was nice of you to read to her; she loved being told stories.  I used to make up fairy tales for her, with all the X-Men as characters.  Tell me, did you like her?" Kitty asked.

"Sure, she was a cute kid.  Had a goofy sense of humor, too," he reflected.  "She had this blue doll that looked like Nightcrawler, and she kept hopping it around going 'bamf, bamf, bamf'.  It took me two days of wading through a Russian dictionary before I figured out she was trying to make the sound affect Nightcrawler did when he teleported.  You did know her, then?  

"You could say that," Kitty replied, smiling despite herself, remembering the original 'Bamfs'.  "It's a long story…"

"Then let's take a long break.  Come on," he added, as she started to object once again.  "Go change, and we'll run over to Harry's.   We'll both think clearer if we get out of here for a bit."

Kitty looked down at her toner-streaked top, took one more look around the computer room at the stacks of printouts they'd generated and her abandoned homework, and stood up.  "You win," she said.  "Last one to the door buys the first round."

Hank saw Bobby and Kitty exit the computer room arm in arm, and smiled.  He'd been bringing in some coffee, knowing Kitty was as bad as he himself when it came to breaks, but he was glad Bobby had managed to pull her away.  He seemed to have the knack of that, Hank mused.  Bobby was usually the only one who could dislodge him from the lab once he was immured in it.  He thought briefly about joining them and getting an update on the situation, then shook his head.  There were times, he decided, that three was definitely a crowd.

When Bobby got to the door, he found Kitty already there.

"Wow," he said, as his eyes ran up and down her slender frame, and she blushed.

She'd changed out of her toner-splashed sweater and sweats into a pair of form-fitting stone washed jeans and black leotard.  She'd pulled her hair back into a pony-tail, too, he noticed, and decided he liked the way it accented her cheekbones.  Her eyes didn't look quite as shadowed as they had in the computer room, either.  He'd decided not to bring the subject of Illyana up again – apparently there was something there she didn't want to discuss, and he wanted her to relax, not get more stressed out.

He'd calmed down himself while they'd worked, giving himself a good lecture about inferiority complexes.  So Warren thought he was incompetent.  So what?  Warren didn't have such a great record himself, what with becoming Apocalypse's angel of death and all.

"Your car or mine?" he found himself asking, and was rewarded by a surprised smile from Kitty.  Women never expected that question, he'd found, but he really had no problem with her driving if she wanted to.  Besides, her car was probably cleaner than his was.

"Umm, yours," she said, grinning.  "Mine kinda got totaled after the fire – part of the roof fell on it."

Bobby let out a burst of laughter, and seeing the puzzled look on Kitty's face, explained, "When I pulled in, I thought about parking right by the mansion to see if that could happen to mine. But so far, no luck.  Sorry about the mess," he added, as he opened her car door.  She seemed unfazed as she got in, just pushed the junk on the floor over with one foot.

"So, how have you been getting to classes?" he asked, as he got in on the driver's side.  

"Well, believe it or not, Logan let me borrow his motorcycle," she said proudly, and he whistled.  Logan was well known for not letting **anybody** borrow his bike.

"Maybe you should have driven after all," he joked.

"Can't.  He made me promise not to take any passengers until he had time to check me out on it," she answered apologetically. 

"Oh well, that's cool – the car has an advantage over a motorcycle anyway."

"What's that?" she asked, puzzled.

"A killer sound system."  He fiddled around under his seat and pulled out a CD, which he put in the stereo.  Soon Smash Mouth's version of 'I'm a Believer' was blasting from the speakers, threatening to rattle the car apart.  "Oops, sorry – I tend to blast it a bit," he said as he turned down the volume.   The car obligingly backfired, and they both laughed.  "Ok, ok, more than a bit; keep your opinions to yourself," he added, patting the dash.

"The Shrek soundtrack?" she asked, as she grabbed the case of his lap.  As he opened his mouth to offer to put in something else, she said excitedly, "I love this movie!  Have you seen it?"

"Oh yeah, Hank and I rented it as soon as it came out," he replied, grinning.  "I had a blast imitating the guy who was buying the fairy tale creatures, pretending I'd offered a reward for Hank."

"Kurt bought it, but we've watched it so many times it was worth it.  Jubilee and I even got Logan to sit through it once, though he decided we were both nuts.  Hey, can we skip to 'Best Years of our Lives'?"

"Be my guest."  As Kitty fiddled with the keys, Bobby reflected that, even if it turned out they had nothing else in common, at least Kit had great taste in movies and music.  He wondered if she liked Red Dwarf, too.  Suddenly, he couldn't resist, and started singing along with the stereo.

"I get such a thrill when you look in my eyes

My heart skips a beat, girl, I feel so alive,

Please tell me baby, if all this is true,

Cause deep down inside, all I wanted was you.

Kitty was laughing, but as Bobby began tapping the beat on the steering wheel, she joined in for the refrain.

Oh oh oh oh, makes me want to dance

Oh oh oh oh, it's a new romance

Oh oh oh oh, I look into your eyes

Oh oh oh oh, best years of our lives."

They were both laughing as the next verse started, and Bobby stopped singing.  "I don't know the rest of the words," he said, shrugging.  He glanced over at Kitty, who was swaying in her seat in time to the music, a smile on her face, and grinned.

"Hey, you like to dance?" he asked suddenly.

"Sure, why?" she asked, still nodding her head with the beat.

"Just thinking – once the current crisis is averted, you want to go out clubbing some time?  We could hit some places I know in New York…" he cut off as he realized Kitty was staring at him.  "It was just an idea…"

"You like to dance?" she asked.

"Yeah…is that a problem?" he replied, confused by her reaction.  Maybe it was a bit early in the game to be asking her out to New York, but he'd gotten the impression that she wouldn't be opposed…

She laughed.  "Not a problem, no.  I just can't think of the last time someone asked me out dancing.  Out drinking, sure, Pete and I –"

"Pete? You mean Peter?"  Bobby wondered if he had misread the relationship between Peter and Kitty; he'd heard it was long over, and they certainly didn't seem on good terms at the meeting, but you never knew.

"Oh god, no," she answered, putting her hand over her eyes and shaking her head as if trying to block out the image of going anywhere with Peter.  Bobby silently let out a sigh of relief.  "No, Pete Wisdom.  We dated for a while when we were both with Excalibur.  We used to go out to this pub on the mainland once in a while, and once or twice to London, but I couldn't have dragged him on a dance floor if his life depended on it."  She winced at her own choice of words, and Bobby tried to place where he'd heard the name before.  Hank had mentioned something about him and X-Force over the phone last month; well, he didn't want to get into discussions about ex-boyfriends anyway. 

"Well, you're being asked now, so how about it?" Bobby asked, returning to the original subject.  He'd remember later, he thought, or he'd ask Hank.  The important thing was, not only was she not with Peter, but it sounded as if she wasn't dating anyone else right now either.  When Hank didn't mention it, he'd assumed she wasn't, but Hank could be pretty dense sometimes.  "You can check with Rogue, if you want, but I don't think I'm too awful a dancer…"

"Rogue?" Kitty questioned, glancing at him with a mischievous look on her face.  "Then the rumors are –"

"Totally false," he assured her.  "Rogue and I are friends.  She likes to go clubbing, but she doesn't like to go by herself – or she didn't, maybe that's changed now that she doesn't have to worry about anyone touching her.  She and Gambit weren't on speaking terms, so she used to recruit me to go with her once in a while.  But you're stalling," he joked.

"No, I'm not, I mean, I'd love to," she answered, flustered.  He wished he could see her face; it was too dark to tell for sure, but he thought she was blushing.

"Then it's a date," he stated, and turned the car into the parking lot at Harry's.

"You asked about Illyana," Kitty said, as she set her empty glass down on the table.  True to his word, Bobby'd bought the first round of drinks, expressing surprise when Harry didn't ask to see her I.D.  

She'd explained that one; when she'd inquired about getting her British driver's license, she was told she'd need to bring in her passport as a form of ID.  Since she didn't really have one, having been brought to Muir rather unofficially, she'd forged herself one for the occasion, upping her age two years in the process just to thumb her nose at everyone who kept insisting she was a kid.  She knew Harry had his suspicions, but he was willing to take it at face value as long as she didn't abuse the privilege.  She made sure she didn't; she'd gotten too used to being treated as a legal adult in Britain to be exposed as underage here.

The beer had relaxed her, and she decided Bobby had had the right idea about taking a break.  The urgency of the computer security breach had quieted to a dull annoyance in the back of her mind, where her subconscious, she knew, was still working on the problem.  Sometimes that worked, though, so she refused to feel guilty, although there had been a moment when Betsy and Warren had entered the bar when she'd been prepared for a confrontation.  She'd seen them by the door, Warren talking angrily and gesturing in their direction, but Betsy had pulled him off to the pool tables in back, and she'd breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked at Bobby now, who was waiting for her to continue, and decided that she wanted to explain about Illyana.  Since she'd died, everyone had tried to avoid talking about her with Kitty; to spare her feelings, no doubt.  But first and foremost, Illyana had been her best friend, an important part of her life, one Kitty didn't want to forget.  She took a deep breath and began.

"I was thirteen when I first met Illyana.  She was seven then, and she'd been kidnapped by Arcade.  We rescued her, and brought her back with us."

"She was seven then?" Bobby asked, confused.  "She didn't seem any older than that when I met her."

"Well, here's where the story gets interesting," Kitty explained.  "Shortly after we rescued her, she was kidnapped by Belasco, a servant of the old gods, and transported to Limbo.  We tried to save her, but I lost my grip on her hand for a second.  When I regained it and pulled her through the portal, Illyana was about fourteen years old instead of seven."

"What?  How'd that happen?" Bobby asked.

"I'm not entirely sure.  Illyana never wanted to talk about the details; they gave her nightmares, but apparently she lived those seven years as Belasco's apprentice before escaping.  Time works different in Limbo, and Illyana's mutant power was to control the 'stepping disks' that she could use to teleport through space and time.  I'm guessing that when she escaped, she used one of them to teleport to the exact moment I lost my grip on her hand, grabbed hold, and let me pull her through.

"Illyana was my roommate, and my best friend for nearly two years, until I was injured during the Morlock Massacre and sent to Muir to recuperate.  She'd joined the New Mutants, but she was never close with any of them.  No, that's not true, she and Dani were kind of friends, I guess, but most of them were afraid of her.  I guess I never really forgave them for that."

"Afraid of her?  Why?"  Kitty could tell Bobby was really interested in what she was saying, and she appreciated it.  This was a bit harder to explain than she'd thought; emotion aside, temporal anomalies gave her a headache.

"Well, it was those seven years she'd spent as Belasco's apprentice, you see.  He'd tried to corrupt her soul, and he'd partially succeeded.  She told me once she'd had to kill several alternate-reality version of the X-Men to survive.  I'm not sure, but I think one of them was me.  It was something that she tried to keep quiet, but rumor got around.  In any case, whenever she used any of the magic she'd learned from Belasco, a sword she'd formed from part of her own soul would appear, and she was gradually being covered by more and more armor. Eventually, when she grew angry her body would begin to transform into that of a demon.

"She was trying to fight Belasco's influence.  All she ever wanted was to fit in, to be a part of the team, to be a normal kid, but she didn't know how.  I guess we'll never know if she could have made it; after the X-Men faked their deaths in Dallas and she thought her brother'd been killed she pretty much stopped trying.  And then came Inferno."

"Hey, I was there.  That's when Madelyne tried to kill baby Christopher."

"I was there, too, at least briefly.  Rachel – you know about Rachel, right?"  As Bobby nodded, Kitty continued.  "Rachel 'heard' Christopher's cries, and took off to save him.  We came over and ended up saving Rachel, but then Meggan responded to the atmosphere and turned into the Goblin Princess – well, that's a story for another time.  Anyway, Illyana sacrificed herself to seal the gateway between Limbo and Earth.  After it closed, they found her armor, but inside it was a seven-year-old version of Illyana, who had no memory of the past two years.  Whether it was an alternate-reality version of Illyana, or she'd somehow managed to rescue herself before Belasco corrupted her, we never figured out.  Her soul sword came to me like it did whenever Illyana died, and that made everything even more mysterious."

"Hold on, whenever she died?  Did she do it often?" Bobby tried to joke, but it came out flat.

"Often enough; there was a lot going on at that time with the Beyonder, and strange things would happen, then un-happen.  But in any case, her sword came to me, and I left it in a stone in front of Excalibur's lighthouse for a long time.  It seemed like the safest place for it."

"But for Illyana, it was like nothing had ever happened.  She barely remembered me; she'd known me for only a couple of weeks after all, not counting the two years she'd spent as a teenager.  Peter took her back to Russia, and I kept in touch, but there was no frame of reference.  I mean, I could remember all the things we did together; the gossiping, the pillow fights, sneaking down to the kitchen and raiding the fridge.  For her, they never happened."

"Professor Xavier contacted me when they realized she was dying, and I got here as fast as I could.  Because, even though she didn't know it, she was the best friend I ever had…" Kitty was crying by this point, looking down at the table, and she felt Bobby reach across the table and lay a hand on her shoulder.  "I think the hardest thing was that here she'd had a second chance at the normal life she always wanted, and then she lost it to a stupid disease."

"God, Kitty, I'm sorry.  I mean, I didn't know or I wouldn't have brought it up…" Bobby trailed off, and Kitty raised her head and rubbed her hand across her eyes.

"No, really, I'm glad you did," she said, forcing a smile.  "You see, no one wants to talk about Illyana.  Her life, and her death, were both such tragedies.  But that's not how I want to remember her.  I want to remember how she faced down Magneto when he did things she didn't think were fair.  I want to remember how she used her magic to make Rahne a dress for the Hellfire Club dance, even though Rahne was terrified of her.  How she covered her half of the room with posters of Metal bands, except for one right over her bed which had a unicorn.  How she took my side when Peter broke up with me, even though she really loved her brother.  

"I want to remember the fun we had; how we made a simulation of the Well of Souls in the Danger Room, and Kurt got sucked into a bunch of alternate realities, and how when we tried to get him back, he reappeared without his costume.  We never let him live that down!  I want to remember the snow ball fights, and how I tried to teach her baseball, and how mad she got when she couldn't hit the ball.  

"I want to remember how she spent all day trying to get me to stop crying after Larry Bodine committed suicide.  How she convinced the New Mutants to rescue me when the Ice Queen was holding me prisoner, even though most of them hated my guts.  

"I even want to remember how jealous I was of her, because that was a normal thing, too.  She was so beautiful, and wherever we went, all eyes would glaze right over me and turn to her.  But it wasn't like she was trying to show me up; it just happened.  I was jealous anyway, though," she laughed.

"I want to remember, and I wish everyone else did too.  I don't think the other New Mutants ever realized just how important being one of them was to Illyana.  Most of them couldn't see past her differences to realize that underneath, she was just like everyone else.  She was, though, and she was my best friend."  

They sat silent at the table for a while, just holding hands, and then Bobby said,

"You were special to her, too, you know."

"What do you mean?" Kitty asked, surprised.

"I didn't put two and two together until now, but she talked about you.  I told you I tried to keep her company when I could, and after the Professor gave me the Russian crash course, we'd talk now and then.  Mostly I read her stories; I wasn't really sure what to talk to her about, but I remember the last time I came in she was all excited.  The Professor, she told me, had told her Katya was coming.  I didn't know who that was, but she told me all about her friend who sent her postcards from England, and who gave sent her her bamf doll for her birthday.  It was the happiest I'd seen her, and I remember thinking that, whoever Katya was, I hoped she'd get there in time."

"I did," Kitty said smiling, though tears ran down her cheeks.

"Maybe it's small consolation; I know I can't imagine how I'd feel if something happened to Hank and he didn't remember me.  I know she couldn't remember the things you can, all the things that made your friendship special.  But she remembered you were her friend."

Kitty leaned across the table, and kissed Bobby on the cheek.  As she sat back down, she said, "I guess that's enough."  

The waitress came back around and asked if they wanted a refill, but they didn't hear her.


	7. Chapter 7

This story is mine.  Really, all mine.  Well, all the characters belong to Marvel, but please don't sue me, it wouldn't be worth it.  Thanks to Luba, too for the beta read and encouragement!

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 7 

"Well, the party's over, I guess we'd better get back on track," Kitty said regretfully, as she and Bobby drove back to the mansion.

"Now?" he asked, surprised.  It was nearly one in the morning, their 'short break' having lasted far longer than either of them had planned.  Not that he was complaining, he mused.  In the last couple of hours he'd really gotten to know Kitty Pryde, and he liked what he'd learned.

Not only was she gorgeous and brilliant – a combination that still amazed him – but she was one of the most, well, caring people he'd ever met.  They'd talked more about Illyana and Kitty's early years with the X-Men, but gradually she'd gotten him talking as well; about his father and their relationship, about how he'd felt when Cloud changed gender and then was revealed to be a sentient nebula, about the whole thing with Emma Frost and his underutilized powers.  She'd asked him questions about college, and his accounting business, and all those normal things that most people took for granted unless they'd grown up with the X-Men.  He'd talked, and she'd listened, asking questions now and then, as if she'd really cared about what he was saying.  It was an odd feeling; he rarely opened up to anyone except Hank.  Everyone else expected Bobby the joker, so that was who he provided.

"Yes, now," she answered, stretching out in the passenger's seat as much as room allowed.  "You said 'a break'.  A break implies that you go back to work after you're done."

"Ok, ok – you're a real slave driver, you know it?" he replied, yawning.  "What's first?"

"Hmmm…well, first we look at your results on which systems have been accessed.  It'd be interesting to know what whoever it was was looking for."

"I've been thinking about that.  I'll have to double check the print-outs, but it looked as if they'd accessed about the last six months worth of mission files and accounting records.  And, of course, Hank's legacy info.  Rogue should be happy; it didn't look as if anyone's been hacking the e-mail system."

"Probably because it's on a different subnet," Kitty mused.  "Let's assume they're looking for something in particular; if they were just looking for how to destroy the X-Men, they'd presumably either have downloaded everything, or just gone after the Xavier protocols.  

"It pretty much rules out the government, too; they'd have wanted as much information as they could get if they were going after evidence," Bobby inserted.

"Going back six month takes us back to just before the show down with Apocalypse.  That was all covered in the mission logs, so it's probably not that, or they'd have stopped there."

"The accounting records contain everyone's personal information in addition to the usual payables/ receivables," Bobby added, getting into the spirit of things.  "If you know what you're looking for, you can learn a lot from accounting records."

"Like what?" Kitty asked.  "The going rate for mansion restoration?"

"Well, yeah, that too, but how people spend money can tell you a lot about them.  Let's see, in the last six months I would guess the food and utility bills have gone down."

"Because there aren't as many people living at the mansion?"

"Bingo.  The phone bill's probably down, too, unless Betsy's been calling England again – no, she and Warren were on vacation, right?  Add airline tickets to the list.  Probably a lot of them, from what Hank's told me it sounds as if everyone went somewhere recently."

"I didn't," Kitty replied, "I've been too busy with classes – hey, tuition bills for me and Kurt!"

"Now you're getting it," Bobby said, confidently.  "So, so far we've got fewer people living at the mansion, at least two of whom are suddenly full time students.  Lots of vacations.  No major expenditures since the showdown with Apocalypse, until you hit the mansion repairs.  Pretty atypical for us, wouldn't you say?"  

"Definitely.  So, whoever it is, they know that things are not in their usual state at the Xavier Institute.  What about the Legacy virus info?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah, that was definitely accessed, along with the rest of the research files," Bobby answered, searching his memory.  "But the Legacy virus is in remission since the High Evolutionary meddled with everyone's DNA.  I mean, Hank's still researching it, because he's hoping to find a cure in case things revert to normal, but if someone was just interested in the virus data they'd have probably just gone after that and left the rest.  Let's table this for now, we need more info" he said, as they pulled up to the mansion.  He parked the car, and got out to open the door for Kitty, grinning as she looked surprised.  "Ok, I admit it - you've got me hooked. Let's go check the printouts – maybe we're on to something here."

As they walked quietly up to the mansion, Bobby heard Kitty giggle.  "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Oh, I just feel like we're sneaking in.  You know, I half expect Logan to be standing just inside the door, ready to ask where we've been," she said, fiddling with her keys.  

"God, I hope not," Bobby said, rubbing his forehead.  "I'm not sure I'm awake enough to deal with that."

Kitty said, opened the door and feigned looking around nervously.  "No, the coast is clear," she said in a whisper.  They tiptoed in, laughing as they pretended to peer around corners and under furniture.

"Ah hate to interrupt, but what ARE the two of ya doin'?"

Bobby and Kitty both jumped, and turned to see Rogue standing behind them, laughing.  She was wearing an oversized tee-shirt and holding a container of ice cream in one hand, a spoon in the other, so it was pretty obvious what she'd been up to.

"Would you believe, checking for ghosts?" Bobby asked, relaxing, and Kitty giggled.

"Only if you've been watchin' Scooby Doo again," she countered.

"Well…" Bobby answered, grinning, as Rogue covered her ears.

"Neva mind, I don't want to know.  Hey, Kit – Logan was lookin' for ya earlier.  Hank told him you were out with the snowball, here, and he made a few comments I'm way too much a lady to repeat, so ya better watch out," Rogue said with a conspiratorial smile, and turned to go.

"Thanks for the warning!" Kitty called to her back, and she and Bobby both dissolved in laughter.

"Oh my god, I thought…"

"Did you ever jump!"

"So did you!"

Finally, Kitty said, "Ok, that was enough excitement for one morning.  Let's get back to computer central, Snowball," and glanced to see Bobby's reaction.

"Be nice to me, or I won't share my Scooby snacks," Bobby replied with a smirk.

"Oh, I'll be nice, I'll be nice…hey, you don't have any Scooby Snacks!"

They bantered their way back to the computer room, where Bobby pulled rummaged until he found the report he'd been looking at earlier.

"Yeah, I was right – all the research data was accessed.  Someone was interested in what Hank was into; not just the Legacy stuff, but all his research on mutancy."

Kitty pulled up a chair next to him, and leaned over to see the printout.  "You're right.  Now – hey, that's interesting!"

"What is?" Bobby asked.

"The Xavier protocols weren't accessed."

"What?" Bobby said, surprised.

"Not at all, despite the fact they could have been easily hacked, given that Invader X got into the Legacy data.  They shared the same security settings.  Now, why would someone have gone to all the trouble of hacking our system and not downloaded the ultimate info on how to defeat us?"

"Uninterested?  Apparently it's someone who knows the Xavier protocols are fairly useless at this point," Bobby replied, pondering the situation.  This was getting more and more confusing.  He could have understood if someone was trying to gain information on how to defeat the X-Men; it was almost inevitable that their powers would return, someday, and someone would have had a nice ace in the hole.  But it looked more as if someone was interested in what they were doing now…"

"I've got it!" he said suddenly, jumping up from his chair and rushing over to the computer terminal, where he frantically typed in the routine that checked access on the system.

"What if they're not done?  I mean, could you tell when the invasion took place?"

"Just two days ago" Kitty answered excitedly, grabbing another keyboard off the desk in front of her.  "That was a lot of data to download, and they just took down the security system two days ago.  I didn't put it back up, just took the sensitive systems offline, so it wouldn't interfere with my scans.  If we assume they were only accessing when they thought it was least likely to be detected…"  She began typing frantically, pausing to ask if he'd had any luck.

"Just a second – hey, I was right!" he replied, squinting at the readout on the screen.

"Where?" Kitty asked, her hands poised over the keyboard

"E-mail.  Poor Rogue.  You know, I don't think this is a traditional enemy at all.  It looks more like someone trying to profile us, and find out what we're up to.  Where better than e-mail?"

"Let's get the trace running; if we can get a lock while they're still in, we should be able to trace them all the way back to point of origin." Kitty said, her hands flying over the keys.  "Hey, that's strange…"

"What?" Bobby asked, coming over to look over her shoulder.

"The signal makes a lot of hops; that's not surprising, if they don't want it traced – but it originates in New York.  I should have more specifics in a few minutes."

"Here's something else – they're not just downloading all the mail," Bobby said, squinting at the terminal.  "It looks like they're running a search."

"So they are looking for something specific!  Can you tell what their parameters are?"  Kitty asked, getting up from her seat and coming over to look.

"No, but I set the system to flag whatever they download, so we should be able to wade through them and find a common denominator," Bobby answered, draping his arm around Kitty's shoulders as she leaned over to watch the screen.

"That might be harder than you'd think, if Rogue isn't the only one who doesn't know you can delete e-mail," she replied, and Bobby had to chuckle to himself.

"You know, when this is all over, you should sponsor computer literacy classes," he told Kitty, as they watched the data stream by.

"Not enough patience to deal with that many stupid questions – why don't you do it?  You could even bill the Institute," she countered.

"Oh sure – who'd come?" he asked, with only a trace of bitterness.  Kitty stepped back and glared at him.

"You know, you do some of this to yourself," she said irritably.

"Some of what?" Bobby asked, puzzled.

"Bobby, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but if you assume no one will take you seriously, they won't," she replied.  "Look at you; you haven't just been 'helping'; you've put as much input and work into this as I have.  And a lot of your ideas have been better, simply because you have a different perspective.  Granted, you don't know the systems as well as I do, but then that's my main interest, not yours.  I assembled a lot of this; if I didn't know them better than you, I'd resign as chief systems manager.  But if you want the X-Men to take you seriously, you have to take yourself seriously, first."

"That's not something I'm used to doing," Bobby said, abashed.  "I guess I'm just used to playing the role everyone expects.  Maybe I've bought into it a bit too much myself."  He knew he had, in fact.  He'd realized it when Emma had first used his powers in ways he'd never imagined, and come to terms with it when he set up his own business and had to be the one to make the final decisions.  For some reason, though, he had more difficulty stepping out of that role when he was with his friends than when he was dealing with his clients.

"Well, think about it," Kitty said, laying her hand gently on his shoulder.  "You have a lot of potential, Bobby.  And if there's anything I hate to see, it's wasted potential."  She turned back to the monitor, and Bobby thought about what she'd said.  

She had so much self confidence, he thought enviously, watching her type commands at the console.  He tried to remember a time when he'd been so sure of himself, and came up blank.  It certainly wasn't during any of his stints with the X-Men, or the Champions, or the Defenders.  He'd cast himself in the role of class clown, probably as much as a defense mechanism as by personality, as soon as he'd arrived at the Mansion, he admitted to himself.  He hadn't really come by choice, like most of the others; there had simply been no where else to go, and an angry mob at his heels.  

He knew that he hadn't really fit in with the first group of the X-Men.  Barely into his teens, all he'd wanted was to be normal, to be able to go back home as if nothing had ever happened.  He'd felt as if he was the only one who had any doubts about himself or his abilities, the only one who would have rather been back home leading a normal life than fighting Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.  Thinking back, he realized they'd probably been as unsure of themselves as he had; they'd just been a couple of years older, and better able to hide it.  

But that was ten years ago, he told himself.  I'm not that scared kid any more.  Or am I?

Part of him was, he knew.  While he and his father had come to terms, he was still uncomfortably afraid of rejection and prone to a lot of self-doubt.  That was probably the key, he thought suddenly.  He was afraid that if he let people close, let them know the real Bobby Drake, they wouldn't like him.  Far easier to keep up the same class clown defense they'd always known and hide behind it.  It wasn't as if he hadn't perfected the role.  And, truth be told, he enjoyed it.  But it would be nice to let it go occasionally.

Like he had with Kitty tonight, he realized.  A few jokes here and there, true, but she'd seen more of the real Bobby Drake in the last few hours than anyone except Hank or Rogue had in years.  And, amazingly enough, she seemed to have liked him anyway.

It was definitely something to think about, Bobby decided, and pulled his attention back to the matters at hand.

"So, what've we got?" he asked finally, and was rewarded by Kitty reaching out to hold his hand.

"I think we've got some answers," she replied.  "And they're not the ones anyone is going to expect."


	8. Chapter 8

This story is mine.  Really, all mine.  Well, all the characters belong to Marvel, but please don't sue me, it wouldn't be worth it.  Special thanks to Luba for the beta read and to everyone who e-mails their encouragement!

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 8 

"What do you mean?" Bobby asked, and Kitty could sense the surprise in his voice.  "What'd you find out?"

"You were right – this isn't a traditional enemy.  I'm not sure we should consider them an enemy at all, aside from hacking into our computer system.  I don't know exactly who it is, you understand, but I don't think they mean any harm," Kitty replied, turning back to the results on the screen.  She'd been surprised by the results of her search, but the data was conclusive.  Whoever had hacked the system hadn't been doing so maliciously – they'd been looking for answers to a specific question.

"Well, are you going to clue me in, or let me die of suspense?" Bobby said plaintively, and Kitty smiled.  When he'd gotten so quiet, she'd been afraid she'd really hurt his feelings, which was the last thing she wanted to do.  She had to admit she probably could have put it better, but she was tired and distracted.  There was no reason he should be so hard on himself, she thought, and was glad that he had apparently decided not to be angry with her.

"Can't have that," she joked.  "And I guess you're entitled to be the first to know…"

"Know what?" he said, covering her eyes with his hands.  "Come on, let me see…"  She could feel him leaning against her back as he tried to see the results on the monitor.  Laughing, she brushed his hands away, and turned to face him.

"Well, it would seem our invaders were interested in who was responsible for the recent loss of mutant abilities," she answered.  "Specifically, they were trying to determine if we were the culprits.  Once they realized we weren't, they began seeking data about us; who we are, what we stand for.  I'm not sure, but I'd guess they're looking for allies."

"Why the Legacy data, then?" Bobby asked, confused.  "And Hank's other research?"

"Think about it.  If you had heard the term Legacy Virus, and that it only affected mutants, but didn't know anything else about it…" 

"They thought it might refer to the cause of the power loss!  Sure, and if they'd heard Hank was studying it –"

"That's my guess.  Initially, I'd guess they may not have even realized they were hacking the X-Men's computer system.  They were out looking for Hank's research files, to determine if the Legacy Virus was responsible.  The rest was just serendipity.  But who could it be?" she asked, closing her eyes.  She shook her head, trying to shake out the cobwebs.  While she hated to admit it, she was really getting too tired to keep going.

"Good question," Bobby answered, yawning.  "I would have thought all the organized groups of mutants were familiar with the Legacy Virus; not the details, but the gist of it at least.  And they'd all know that Hank was a member of the X-Men, and since they all seem to know where we live…Kitty, are you awake?"

"Huh?" Kitty answered drowsily, realizing that she'd only heard part of what Bobby'd been saying.  "Oh, sorry – this always happens.  Adrenaline keeps me going for so long, but then I just crash.  What were you saying?"

"I was saying that I think it's time to get some sleep.  Let's get to bed, Kit."  
  
"Is that a suggestion or a proposition?" she replied without thinking, then blushed.  The part of her that was awake gave herself the mental equivalent of a kick in the ass.  She looked at Bobby, who was standing with his mouth wide open, and saw him pull himself together.

"I wish I thought you meant that," he replied, grinning.  "But I know you don't, and I don't think I could keep my eyes open even if you did.  Come on," he added, putting his hand out to pull her up from her chair.  "I'll tell you what – I'll even walk you home."

Kitty laughed, and said, "And they say chivalry is dead.  Hang on, let me shut things down for the night."

"Morning." Bobby corrected.

"Night.  It's still dark, it's still night," Kitty said with certainty.  She took the computer systems down completely, deciding to deal with getting everything back up when she was more awake.   "You know, someone is going to wake me up early to answer questions about this," she said petulantly.

"Ah, there are advantages to my reputation as a slacker," Bobby joked.  "I'll bet I get to sleep later than you."

"Hmmm, good point.  Think it's too late to get a reputation of my own?" Kitty answered in the same vein.

"In time to not get woken up?  Probably, but I can give you some good pointers if you really want some."

"I may take you up on that if I don't get some sleep," she replied, yawning broadly.  She let him help her up, and turned to take one last look around the computer room.

"Not a bad night's work, if I say so myself," she said, and turned to exit the room.

"Domina – I think we've been detected!" shouted a tall young man, jumping up from his seat in front of the computer console.  He turned to his companion, who stood behind him in an obviously makeshift base of operations.  He could see her anger through her face paint, and cringed.

"Shut it down, Seth, before they can trace the signal," she replied impatiently.  "I thought you assured me our scans were undetectable?" she added as he bent to the keyboard.

"They shut down on their end.  And as for our scans being undetectable, they should have been.  At worse, the Spikes should have thought there was an unusual amount of activity from their Muir Island facility, but then, they have technology I've never encountered before," he answered defiantly.  "I warned you about that.  And it is remotely possible that their systems specialist detected something unusual, and investigated.  I'd seen no sign that anyone was managing the system, but that could have changed."

"Nevertheless, I expected more of you.  No matter," she continued, brushing aside his objections.  "We've prepared for such an eventuality.  You are certain they weren't responsible?"

"Positive.  They were affected just as we were, though with less disastrous results.  Apparently, this attack was not aimed at the Neo alone.  They know who's responsible, but they don't seem to be taking any steps to retaliate.  Perhaps they would be allies?"

"Perhaps.  It is a sad day when the warriors of the Neo are reduced to seeking aid from Spikes, but then, we are no longer what we once were," she said, pounding her fist on the table, and making the equipment wobble.  "But know this: Those responsible will pay for the lives lost, with the assistance of the Spikes or without it.  I am Domina, and I swear it.  They will pay."

Kitty finished undressing, took out her contacts, and lay down on her bed, her arm pillowing her head.  They'd actually done it – or nearly done it, anyway.  The system still needed to get a final fix on the hacker's origin, but that wouldn't take long.  Yawning, she briefly considered going to the terminal on the desk across from her bed to start the search running again, then remembered she'd shut down the systems.  She thought even more briefly about sending off an e-mail to Jean with her findings, then squashed that idea as well.  Much better to get some sleep; she opened her eyes to peer nearsightedly at the clock on her nightstand, and stifled an exhausted giggle as she realized it was about four in the morning.  

Definitely an interesting 24 hours, she decided, finding it hard to believe that it wasn't even that long since her conversation with Kurt.  So much had happened since then, it hardly seemed possible that it had all taken place in less than one day.  Turning over, she felt a thud on the bed next to her, and reached out her hand to scratch Lockheed's dry neck.

"Hey Dragon, where've you been?" she asked, and was answered but a soft snort.  "Ok, I know, you've been here; it's me who's been gone.  But hey, I've been busy – it's not like I was trying to avoid you."  Lockheed snorted another reply, and settled down under her hand, wiggling here and there to take best advantage of her scratching.

"You wouldn't believe what's all happened today, Lockheed," she said, yawning and pulling the dragon closer, where he snuggled against her contentedly.  "I'll tell you all about him – uh, I mean it – when I wake up," she added, and fell asleep.

Bobby stood outside Kitty's door for a moment, then turned and walked back to his old room.  Considering how seldom he was there, he knew he should really clear his things out and make the room available for someone else, but he never seemed to get around to it.  But sometimes procrastination paid off, he decided as he rummaged through his desk and found a piece of paper and a marker.  He scribbled for a moment on the paper, grabbed his tape dispenser, and walked back to Kitty's room.  Hanging the sign he'd made on her door, he stood back to admire his work for a moment, then went back to his room.  He stripped off his clothes and threw himself on the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

At quarter after six, Logan walked up to the door of Kitty's room.  He'd missed her last night; he'd been hoping for the opportunity to do some serious talking, but he'd heard she was out with Drake.  It hadn't been as big a surprise as it would have been if he hadn't had his discussion with Jeannie earlier1, but he still had to wonder how that came about.  His hand was poised to knock when he saw the sign on the door, and he chuckled to himself.  It said:

"Genius asleep.  Wake her, and suffer the consequences.  All those seeking answers to the question of life, the universe and everything, please contact her trusty assistant.  

Sincerely,

Robert Drake

Genius's Assistant"

"Well, Drake, maybe I was more right than I knew, when I told Jeannie Kit knew how to pick them," he said to himself.  "If nothing else, your heart's in the right place."  He considered waking Drake to ask him his intentions regarding Kit and give him a good scare, but decided that the sign had earned him some slack.  He could always shake him up later, he reflected, as he turned to leave.  His talk with Kitty could wait, too.  It wasn't as if he was going anywhere.

1   To be chronicled in a later companion story.


	9. Chapter 9

This story is mine.  Really, all mine.  Well, all the characters belong to Marvel, but please don't sue me, it wouldn't be worth it.  Special thanks to Luba for the beta read and to everyone who e-mails their encouragement!

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 9 

Bobby stumbled into the kitchen, , wearing a bathrobe and a pair of Mickey Mouse boxers, and ignoring the chuckles of his friends in a single-minded quest to locate the coffee maker.  He'd only slept for a couple of hours before being woken by pounding outside his window.  Apparently, Warren had taken Kurt's comments to heart and gotten the workmen in to perform the mansion repairs.  He only wished that either Warren had sulked a bit longer or the carpenter's union insisted on not working before noon.

"Late night, Bobster?" crooned Rogue.  She pretended to cringe as he glared in her direction, then laughed as she spooned more Frosted Flakes into her mouth.  Swallowing, she added, "Come on – it wasn't that late when I caught you and Kit sneaking in."

"Yeah, but we went back to work after that," he mumbled, just managing to avoid pouring coffee on his hand rather than into his cup.  He considered making a break for it back to his room, but decided that a) he'd probably spill the coffee, b) he'd probably need more after this cup anyway, and c) he might as well get this over with.  Apparently Rogue had been gossiping already.

"Not to be believed, mon ami – you took the lovely lady out, brought her back, and spent the rest of the night in computer central?" Remy chuckled.  "I'm thinkin' we gotta have a talk about your romantic technique, no?"

"Yeah, yeah, bring it on – anyone else?" Bobby answered, getting up to refill his cup.  The coffee, he decided, was just not working fast enough.

"Yeah – what're you doing out with my Kit anyway?" growled Logan menacingly.  Bobby blinked twice – it showed just how tired he was that he hadn't even seen Logan sitting at the table just beyond Rogue.  

"Umm, I, well, that is…" His stream of lack-of-consciousness was cut off when he realized that Logan was laughing, and had stood up.  "Here it comes," he thought, prepared to be picked up by his shirt collar at the very least, and was shocked when Logan clapped him on the shoulder instead.

"Couldn't resist, Drake.  Awake now?"

"Umm, yeah." Bobby replied, realizing he was.  Maybe he should market Logan as an alternative to coffee…

"Good.  Saw the sign you put on Kit's door.  Maybe you're not so bad after all.  Of course, you know if you hurt her, I'm gonna hafta kill you."

"I'd kinda figured that.  So, it's ok with you?" he asked gingerly.  Logan being the closest thing to a father figure Kitty had here, it would probably be best to check.

"Shows class that you ask, kid, but Kit's a grown woman.  I've got no say in who she goes out with."

"Yeah, right, Wolvie – that's why you threatened Angelo's life if he came on to me, right?" Jubilee said, walking into the room and tossing down her duffel bag.  Bobby was surprised to see her; he'd heard she was modeling in SoCal, but no one looked more surprised than Logan.

"I said Kit was a grown woman, not you.  What're you doin' here anyway?  I told you…"

"And I told you I'd see ya later.  It's later, right?" Jubilee asked, then turned to Bobby with a grin.  "What's this?  You and KittyCat?  I thought you were waiting for me, Icicle!"

"Nah – how could I go out with anyone who could top my pranks?" he asked in the same vein. "I'm just too old to keep up with you."

"Yeah, well, I figured you'd still be available when I started slowing down – say, a decade or two," Jubilee replied, walking over to the frig and peering inside.  "What, nothing with caffeine?  Who's been doing the shopping, Jean?  I NEED some caffeine, people!  Here I spend all night on a bus, and you don't even have anything decent to drink?  Do you at least have Sugar Bombs?" she added, turning to Bobby.

"As if I'd tell you after that comment!  You can check, but I think Hank finished them up yesterday," he replied, sitting back down at the table.

"Man!" As Jubilee began to rummage through the cabinets, Bobby looked back at Logan.  He didn't look any better than he had the day before, and Bobby made a mental note to remember to ask someone what was going on there.  He wasn't going to take the chance of breaking a tentative truce to ask Logan himself.

"Ah, Robert, I was just searching for you.  I saw the communiqué you left on Kitty's door, and assuming you to be the genius's apprentice referred to thereon, I was hoping you would be able to apprise me of the current status of our recent digital invasion," said Beast, walking through the door.

Bobby quickly gulped the rest of his coffee, and said, "Sure.  What do you want to know?"

"You'd better wait and ask Kitty, Hank, assuming they made any progress at all.  Which I doubt, as they were at Harry's until the wee hours of the morning.  That's showing responsibility, right Bobby?" asked Warren, who had followed Hank in.  Bobby sighed.  He SO did not need this this morning.

"Anyway, what's he going to be able to tell you?  He doesn't understand any of it – he's just chasing after Kitty's skirt."  Bobby could almost feel his blood pressure rising, and he turned to face Warren.

"Warren?"  He heard himself saying.

"Yes?"

"Let me ask you a question - how many computers are part of the mansion's computer system?"

"How should I know?" Warren replied, but as he opened his mouth to continue, Bobby cut him off.

"Thirty four primary, not counting the desktop and laptop units in people's rooms and the library.  How much experience do you have analyzing data for trends?"

"Now, see here Bobby…"

"That's what I thought.  You know, Warren, I really don't care what you think of me.  I think it would be a hell of a lot more mature of you to discuss any problems you have with me privately than to put on a show for the room, but that's your problem, not mine.  What I do have a problem with is your attitude towards Kitty.  You've insulted her, you've been condescending to her, and you've outright tried to humiliate her.  She doesn't deserve that.  She knows what she's doing, which is considerably more than you can say.  Instead of butting your nose in to what you don't understand, why don't you go phone your office and pretend to run things you may actually know something about?"  

"Why, you little –"  

"Warren?" said Hank.

"What?"

"To put it in words you may understand, why don't you shut up and get out before you dig yourself in any deeper?"

As Warren turned and stormed out the door, Rogue let out a whoop, jumped up, and high fived Bobby.

"That's telling him, Bobby!"

"Good job, mon ami!"

"Never knew you had it in you, Icicle!" added Jubilee who, he noticed, had found a box of Sugar Bombs.

"Indeed, Robert.  May I add that I have been awaiting this day for a very, very long time?" said Hank, reaching out his hand to shake Bobby's. 

Logan just sat in his chair, but as Bobby looked at him, he nodded.  And for the first time he could remember, Bobby knew what it felt like to be respected.  He decided it was a feeling he could get used to, really quick.

He sat back down at the table, looked around at everyone, and said,

"Jubes, can you pass the Sugar Bombs?  Thanks.  Now Hank, you were asking about our progress…the systems have been temporarily shut down," he continued, glancing around the table, "so if you were planning to check your mail this morning, don't bother.  We'll have everything back up and running later today, but we shut down until after we could have a meeting to discuss our findings…"

Standing outside the room, Kitty smiled.  She'd gotten to the kitchen just after Warren began talking, and hung back, unwilling to deal with him this early in the morning.  Given the results, she decided she'd made the right choice.  She thought about going in now, and adding her congratulations to those of his friends, but decided not to ruin Bobby's moment by drawing attention away from him.  Instead, she turned and walked back toward her room, hoping that the repairmen who enjoyed waking people up had also fixed the showers.  

On the way, she stopped at the door to the Professor's office, which Jean was now using, and knocked.

"Come on in," she heard from inside, and opened the door.

"Oh, Kitty," Jean said distractedly, rummaging through some papers on her desk.  "I'm sorry – I was expecting someone else.  What's up?  Any progress on the computer system invasion?"

"Actually, yes – I was wondering if we could get a meeting together this morning to discuss it," Kitty asked, as Jean continued to flip through papers, not even looking in her direction.

"Hmm.  Given how yesterday's meeting went, I'm not sure that's a good idea.  Maybe you should just fill me in, and I'll update everyone," replied Jean.

"Well, I think Bobby's clueing in some people in the kitchen, but here's the situation."  Kitty explained to Jean what they had discovered, and the conclusions they had drawn.  Although Jean nodded occasionally, Kitty got the impression she wasn't paying much attention to what was being said.

"Well, it sounds as if the two of you have been very busy," Jean said when she had finished.  "I agree that it doesn't seem as if we're facing an immediate threat.  It doesn't seem as if there's anything further we can do at this time, but I'll discuss it with the others.   You'll get the systems back online?"

"That's it?" Kitty asked, flabbergasted.  "Bobby and I spent all night on this.  You led us to believe it was top priority.  Now you're just going to sit back and wait?  Aren't we going to send someone to talk to them, at least?"

Jean sighed, and ran her fingers through her hair.  "Why should we?" she asked, finally looking at Kitty.  "If you've judged correctly, they just wanted to determine if we were responsible for the power loss.  No doubt they've discovered we weren't, so I suspect they won't be pounding down our doors.  If they do, we'll deal with it then.  Honestly, Kitty, we all have better things to do these days than chase after a bunch of computer hackers.  Speaking of which, don't you have classes today?" 

"Yeah, and I'm really prepared for them, after spending all night working on the computer systems," Kitty replied.

"Hardly all night – Warren stopped by this morning.  Apparently he saw you and Bobby at Harry's last night."

"Sure, we took a break and got some air.  Jean, is there a problem here?  This isn't like you," Kitty said, frowning.  "You've never questioned my work ethics, and it's not like you to dismiss this."

"I didn't say I was dismissing it, I said I was going to discuss it with the others," Jean replied irritably.  "I am also not questioning your work ethic.  I'm sure you and Bobby needed a break.  I appreciate your results.  I just don't think we need to pursue this further right now."

"Fine!" said Kitty, and she turned to leave.  She didn't understand this at all.  It was totally unlike Jean to virtually ignore either a threat or an opportunity to gain some allies.  It was also, she thought, totally unlike Jean to treat her like this.

"Kitty?" Jean called, as she walked out the door.

"Yes?" Kitty replied, stopping but not turning around.

"If you see Logan…well, tell him I need to see him."

"No sweat," Kitty said, and slammed the door behind her.

What's going on with Jean?  Check out "Behind Closed Doors" for the scoop.


	10. Chapter 10

This story is mine.  Really, all mine.  Well, all the characters belong to Marvel, and so do the X-Men, though they don't deserve them, but please don't sue me, it wouldn't be worth it.  

As always, thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 10 

Kitty was still fuming when she got back to her room after her meeting with Jean.  She opened her door, slamming it behind her, and turned to Lockheed, who had been snoozing on her bed and who was now glaring at her.

"Don't start with me, Dragon," she said angrily.  "Look at it this way – you got more sleep than I did.  I can't believe you managed to sleep through all the pounding outside anyway."  It was still going, she realized, glaring at the wall.

She started pacing the room, stopping occasionally to direct comments towards Lockheed, who was looking at her with an attentive expression on his face.

"Can you believe her nerve?  What's the matter with everyone around here, anyway?  Bobby and I work our asses off to get her the answers she says she wants, and when we get them, she blows the whole thing off!  Now I'm behind on my homework, I've still got to get the security on the system rebuilt and everything back up, and she can't even be bothered to listen to what I'm saying?  Oh, nooo, not the high and mighty Phoenix!  'Better things to do these days than chase after a bunch of computer hackers' – well, if that's how she feels, she can take care of her computer systems herself... 'Don't you have classes today?' Of course I have classes today!  I had class last night, too, and I skipped it because of the emergency!  At least, I thought it was an emergency!  Bobby thought it was an emergency!  Shit, at the meeting yesterday, it sure seemed like everyone else thought it was an emergency!  But hey, apparently we don't know what we're talking about…if they won't be 'pounding down our doors' we might as well just ignore the whole thing, right?"

"Do I wanta know what you're talking about?" she heard behind her, and flipped around to see Logan standing in the doorway, his hand still on the knob.

"Doesn't anyone knock around here?" she asked loudly of no one in particular. 

"I did knock – you were yellin' so loud ya didn't hear me, that's all.  What's wrong?  You and Drake have a fight?" Logan asked, entering the room and leaning against the wall nonchalantly.

"No, Bobby and I – hey!" she said, flipping around, and noticing with surprise the grin on his face.  "Were you in the kitchen just now?  I didn't hear you…no, wait – Rogue said Hank told you last night, right?"

"Well, Hank told me you were out with him, but Jeannie had already clued me in." 

"Don't even MENTION Jean to me right now, ok?" Kitty said, rolling her eyes as she shook her head.  "I really, really don't want to go there, all right?"

"Ok, darlin', ok," Logan said, looking concerned.  "I didn't come to talk about Jeannie, anyway."

"Then what, you want to tell me going out with Bobby would be a bad idea?" she asked, resuming her pacing.  "Or did you already threaten his life and scare him off?"

"Temper, Kit," Logan growled, and she turned to face him, embarrassed.  It was years since Logan had last had to remind her to cool off – it wasn't that her temper had gotten better, per se, but she usually hid it better these days.  

"To answer your question, Kitten, no, I did not scare off Drake.  In fact, I told him he more class than I'd given him credit for, and that what you did was your business.  I did tell him what I'd do to him if he hurt you," he added, chuckling, "but he said he figured that."

"Oh.  Thanks," Kitty said.  She noticed, looking at him critically, that he didn't look at all well, and wondered if he was finally going to tell her about the adamantium poisoning.  She'd gotten the scoop out of Hank, but the last time she'd tried to bring it up with Logan he'd changed the subject.  While she'd gotten periodic updates from Hank as well, she was kind of hurt that Logan hadn't confided in her.

"No problem.  Like I told Jeannie, you're a good judge of character.  If you're interested in Drake, there's gotta be more there than meets the eye."

"Oh, I bet that went over well with Jean," Kitty said, finally settling down at the end of her bed and scratching Lockheed's neck absently.  "I don't think I'm her favorite person these days."

"Maybe, maybe not," Logan said, walking over to the window and looking out.  "Jeannie's got a lot on her plate right now."

"Oh?" Kitty asked curiously.  She knew Jean must still be upset about Scott's death, but Logan was implying something else.

"Her business, not yours, until she decides to talk," Logan said, and Kitty could sense that there was more that he wanted to say, and that he was holding back for some reason.  "Anyway," he added, turning to face her, "we've got some talking to do.  Do you wanta do it now, or do you need to storm around a while longer?"

"No, I'll storm later," she replied, concerned.  "Do you want to sit down?"

"Well, Darlin'," he said, and to Kitty's surprise he reached out to hug her awkwardly.  "I gotta get going – gotta meeting with Bets about security.  Forgot to tell you – best of luck to you and Bobby," he added, letting go and walking toward the door.  "He's ok," he added, and walked out.

Kitty sat down on her bed, tears streaming down her face as she hugged her pillow to her.  Her head was still reeling from everything Logan had told her, and she could hardly take it all in.  Another person she loved was going to be pulled from her, she thought, looking at her bulletin board with all the pictures of her friends on it.  At least this time she'd had a chance to make her peace with him first, and that was, surprisingly, some consolation.  Not much, though.  

She puzzled for a while over what he'd said about Jean, and wondered what more he had wanted to say.    She shrugged, deciding he undoubtedly had a good reason for not confiding in her, and put it from her mind.  She didn't want to think about Jean right now.  

 She was still crying some time later, when she heard a tentative knock on her door, which Logan had left ajar.

"Hey, Kitty – are you ok?" Bobby asked.  Her back was to the door, and she sensed, rather than saw, him poking his head in.

"Just – just get out, Bobby," Kitty sobbed.

"Why?  Hey, did I do something wrong?  I'm sorry," Bobby said, and she could hear the concern in his voice as he walked over and began rubbing her back.

"Damn it, just get out!  Didn't you hear me?" she shouted, flinching away from his hand.

"Yeah, I heard you," Bobby replied, but he didn't move.  "But Logan said you wanted to see me, and I'm not about to argue with him; we're on good terms at the moment.  Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or do you just want to scream at me for a while?"

"I **don't** want to see you!  I **don't** want you anywhere near me!  Everyone I get close to dies, don't you understand!" she yelled, flipping around to look at him.  "I can't take that anymore!  Just **go**!"

"What are you talking about?" Bobby asked, confused, and Kitty could see that he was debating the wisdom of leaving her alone versus getting Hank so he could administer a sedative. 

"Didn't Logan tell you why I supposedly wanted to see you?" she asked, brushing tears from her eyes and glaring at Bobby.  "He's dying.  Damn it, everyone dies!"

"Sooner or later, yeah, I guess.  I don't see how that makes it your fault…" 

"Oh, it's not my fault, I guess.  Maybe my curse would be closer.  But look," she gestured toward her bulletin board, and watched Bobby walk over to it and peer at the pictures.

"Hey, is this Illyana grown up?  And that's Rachel – I met her at Scott and Jean's wedding…"

"Yeah, and Doug, and Pete, and Larry, and Alasdhair, and Alysdane Stuart…"  She resumed sobbing, and when she felt Bobby place his arms around her, she pulled away.  

"Don't you understand?  They're all dead.  Every last one of them, dead.  Well, ok, Rachel's lost in some alternate future or something, but it amounts to the same thing.  Shit, you can even throw in Madelyne – I don't have any pictures of her, but I was maid of honor when she married Scott.  I was the first person she told when baby Nathan was born, because Scott was too busy with his precious Jean to even call her.  And now Logan.  'Advanced adamantium poisoning'… it's almost funny, you know?  Most of my other friends died because they were mutants – Logan's dying because he isn't anymore.  Who's next?  Kurt?  Ororo?  Lockheed? You?"  

"Kitty?"

"What?" she asked, tears streaming down her face.  She knew she was being irrational, but all she kept thinking was that she had to get Bobby to leave before something happened to him.  As she looked in his eyes, though, she couldn't push him away again when he put his hand on her shoulder.

"I can't make you any promises.  Yeah, I could die tomorrow.  I could get hit by a bus, or my beat-up car could blow a tire on the expressway.  The mansion roof could fall on me, though it seems Warren's repair crew's taking care of that," he said, glaring at the window, "so it's not really likely.  I guess one of them could drop a hammer on me, though.  Shit, I could even have a heart attack next tax season, if it's as busy as the last one was.

"The same things could happen to you.  That's the price we pay for being alive."

"But…"

"I could say I understand how you feel, but I'd be pretending," Bobby said, holding up a hand to cut her off.  "I've lost friends, too – Scott, Cloud, Candy, the whole team of New Defenders other than Hank and Warren.  Most of them showed up again, later, but I didn't know that when it happened.  But everyone handles it differently, so how I feel isn't how you feel."  He paused, and Kitty knew he was searching for what he was trying to say.

"I can't know exactly how you feel.  I know this, though.  You can't block everyone out, Kit.  I don't think you could, even if you tried – you care too much about people."  He pulled her close, and this time she let him, feeling her muscles loosen as he rubbed her back.  "And I care too much about you to let you try," he added quietly.

"You shouldn't," she mumbled, but her voice had lost some of its conviction.

"Too late."

They stood for a few minutes, until Kitty stopped shaking.  Finally, she pulled away a bit, so she could look at Bobby.  She smiled wryly, and said, "Too late?"

"Yup.  Too late," he replied, grinning.  "I like you, Kitty.  And once I make up my mind that I like someone, they're stuck with me."

"You sound like a stray cat," she replied, and she couldn't keep herself from laughing.

"Yup, that's me."

"Then I guess it's a good think I like stray cats.  But…"

"No buts," he said, putting his finger against her lips to silence her.  "Let's just take it from there, ok? And I'll promise to try to avoid dying if you will."

"It's a deal," she replied, smiling, and didn't resist as Bobby tipped her chin up and kissed her.


	11. Chapter 11

This story is mine.  Really, all mine.  Well, all the characters belong to Marvel, and so do the X-Men, though they don't deserve them, but please don't sue me, it wouldn't be worth it.  

As always, thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!

Sorry about the delay on this chapter!  Don't worry – Bobby and Kitty's adventures will continue!

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 11 

When Bobby and Kitty finally separated, he reached out to wipe the last of the tears from her face.  

"Better?" he asked, smiling.

"Ummm – uh, huh," she replied, smiling back, then looked, Bobby thought, a little embarrassed.  "I hope you didn't do that just because…"

"No, I wanted to do that last night, but I didn't want you to think I was rushing things," he replied, grinning sheepishly.  "I mean, it's hard to believe we just met a couple of days ago..."

"I know," she answered.  "I feel like I've known you a lot longer than that.  You must think I'm a real drip, though – every time I see you I'm crying about something.  Really, I'm not like this usually…"

"Hush," he replied, cutting her off, and stroking her hair with his hand.  "Don't sweat it, Kit, it's been a rough couple of days. It's going to be just fine."  He hoped, for her sake even more than his own, that he was right. He could hardly believe what had just happened, but he certainly wasn't complaining.  It was even harder to believe that just yesterday he'd been trying to convince himself he didn't stand a chance with her, and here she was in his arms.

Maybe this was all a dream…but he sure hoped it wasn't.

"Of course, that's assuming we make it through the current crisis," he added, changing the subject before he could convince himself that he was suffering from hallucinations.  "I briefed part of the team this morning…"

"I know," Kitty replied, and, much to his surprise, hugged him hard.  "I wanted to thank you for standing up to Warren for me."

"You heard?" he asked, bewildered.  "Oh, did Logan tell you?"

"No, was he there?  He didn't say," Kitty answered.  "No, I was in the hall when Warren started off, and decided not to come in.  I really wasn't awake enough to deal with him," she added apologetically, "but I wanted to hear what he had to say.  I was really impressed by how you handled him."

"Me?" Bobby asked.  "Oh, come one, Kit, it was no big deal…" he added, feeling his face turning red.

"Oh sure, no big deal," she teased.  "Bobby, you couldn't have handled him better.  He ended up looking like an immature fool, while you…"

"Sounded less like an immature fool than usual?" he quipped.

"Sounded like a mature, confident adult," she replied, ignoring his comment entirely.  She giggled, and Bobby looked at her quizzically.  "I don't think he knew what hit him.  He didn't even see me when he came out, he just kept shaking his head as if he were trying to wake up from a bad dream."

"Well, he had it coming," Bobby said.  "Anyway, I haven't seen Jean yet, but I suppose we should talk to her about setting up a meeting…"

"Don't bother," Kitty said sharply, turning away.  She walked over to her bed and sat down, absently petting what looked like a stuffed purple dragon.  

"What do you mean," he asked, puzzled.  "Did you talk to her already?"  He suddenly did a double take.  He must be seeing things, he decided, but it had looked as if the dragon moved…he shook his head, deciding that perhaps he was hallucinating after all.

"Yeah, I stopped in on my way back from the kitchen.  I don't know what's going on with her, but…" Briefly, she relayed the gist of her conversation with Jean, ending by telling him what Wolverine had said.  Bobby shook his head, puzzled.

"That definitely doesn't sound like Jean.  I mean, shit, normally she wouldn't even talk to me that way, and I got the impression yesterday she has a much higher opinion of you.  She actually blew off the whole thing?"

"Yeah, made it sound like I was making mountains out of molehills, and I should be more concerned about my education than the security breach."

"Weird.  Whatever she's got on her mind, it must be scrambling it.  What do we need to do next?  I told everyone we'd get the systems back up – Rogue's threatening e-mail withdrawal symptoms, which could get ugly, but if you've got homework, I'm sure she'll live."

"Well, I've got a class this afternoon, but it's just Visual Basic, and I can e-mail the instructor my homework, if I get it done.  He doesn't really care if I show up," she confided.  "I need the credit for graduation, but I know about as much about VB as he does."

"Graduation?  I thought you just started college this year?" Bobby asked, as he watched Kitty's hand stroke the stuffed animal.  No, he wasn't seeing things – it had actually flipped over and wrapped its claws around her hand.  "Umm, Kitty…" he started to say, but she was already answering his question.

"I did, and I didn't.  I took some correspondence courses while I was at Muir, and tested out of a bunch of others," she replied, blushing.  "I've got the senior level courses in my major to take, of course, and my lab science ones, but I started out as a second semester Junior."  
  
"Kitty?" he asked again, nervously.  He was sorry to change the subject, especially since his already high opinion of Kitty's intelligence just jumped several notches, but he was having trouble concentrating. Whatever that thing was, it was now staring at him, and he suddenly noticed it had very large teeth.  

"What?" she asked, pulling her hands into her lap, which caused the creature to stare at her instead.

"What is that thing?"

"What is what?" she asked bewildered.  "Oh, that's right, you've never met Lockheed.  Lockheed, this is Bobby – now, be nice, Dragon," she said, as Lockheed sat up and looked him over.  Bobby suddenly felt as if he were under inspection, and wondered what the correct protocol was when being introduced to a – dragon?

"That's Lockheed?" Bobby asked, amazed.  Lockheed continued to stare at him, which was disconcerting to say the least.

"Yes…what's the matter?" Kitty asked, looking a bit annoyed.

"Oh, nothing – I saw him mentioned in the logs, but no one ever described him.  I thought he was your pet dog or something," Bobby admitted.  

"A dog?" Kitty laughed.  "No, he's definitely a dragon – or at least, some sort of alien species that looks like one.  Come on – say hi, and get acquainted," she urged.

"Umm, hi Lockheed, pleasure to meet you," he said in a tone of voice he hoped sounded confident, as he held out his hand and prayed the dragon wouldn't take a bite out of it.

Lockheed inched forward, and to his great surprise, put his paw? claw? in Bobby's hand.  Bobby, still dazed, shook it without thinking.

"Oh good, you two are going to get along," Kitty said, and Bobby could hear the relief in her voice.  "I thought so, when he didn't, umm, object before, but I wasn't sure.  Lockheed's been with me for what seems like forever – haven't you, Dragon?" she said, and Bobby saw Lockheed nuzzle against her hand.  She resumed petting him, and his eyelids grew heavier – almost like a cat's.  "He's usually friendly, but he never could stand Pete."

"How come?" Bobby asked absently.  He realized he was still staring at the dragon, and forced himself to look at Kitty instead.

"I don't know – I don't think he liked the smell of his cigarettes," Kitty answered.  "He was always trying to hide them from him – Lockheed was hiding them, I mean.  He hid Pete's clothes once, too," she added laughing.  "Pete – well, he was NOT amused, to say the least."

Bobby grinned despite himself.  "No, I'll be he wasn't.  He turned to Lockheed, and said, "Well, Lockheed, I don't smoke, so maybe you can leave mine alone, ok?  I don't have that many with me – this was just supposed to be a vacation, after all."  He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Lockheed wink.  

Kitty smiled, and Bobby was very glad he'd passed the draconian inspection.  He suspected he wouldn't have been in Kitty's life very long if he hadn't.  Returning to the original subject, he asked, "Anyway, how long with the homework take?"

"Probably about twenty minutes, though I do need to start my Russian Lit paper, too – it's due next week."

"Why don't I start things up, then?" he asked, holding up his hand when he saw she was going to object.  "No, hear me through.  You said you've got the connections down, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I have some work to do on them before I bring them up…"

"Right.  I was just thinking – if I don't touch the external connections, I could still bring up the servers, right?  I mean, it's mostly just flipping switches, and I can probably handle that while you finish your VB homework.  At least then the servers will be up when you're ready to move forward, and Hank can access his database, which I'd prefer he could do before he starts whining.  I don't know if you've ever been treated to one of Hank's whines," he joked, "but I have, and I'd rather forego a repeat performance.  If I get stuck," he added, grinning, "I'll wait until you're done."

"Hmm, fair enough," she answered, after thinking it through for a minute.  "Just don't turn on the server in the back left-hand corner of the room.  It'll freak if it can't find an external connection."

"No problem," he answered.  "No touch back left computer.  Got it.  I'll see you in a bit," he added.

It was an hour later, and Bobby Drake was bored.

The problem, he decided, was that none of these computers had Solitaire loaded.  Solitaire was a great time killer, guaranteed to make waiting for gorgeous brunettes go much faster.  He'd turned on the servers, carefully avoiding the one in the back left corner.  That had taken about ten minutes.  He'd spent another ten walking around and making sure they all came up nicely.  They had.  Since then, he'd flipped through Kitty's Russian Lit book, the operating manual from one of the servers, and had systematically crumpled up a large number of useless printouts and practiced throwing them into the garbage can, but even that had grown boring after a while.  He was trying to decide if he should go hunt down Hank and trust that Kitty would come and find him when she was done with her homework, or if he should go get his laptop which at least did have Solitaire loaded, when there was a knock at the door and Kurt Wagner walked in.

"Oh, Herr Drake, I was looking for Katzchen – is she here?" Kurt asked, looking around.

"Nah, she'd doing her homework – she should be here in a while, though.  Want to take a seat?" Bobby asked, gesturing to a chair.

"If I'm not interrupting?" Kurt replied, looking at the scattered "basketballs" that hadn't made it into the can and smiling.

"Hardly," Bobby answered, rolling his eyes.  "I was just debating Rogue's reaction if I flooded her e-mail with exciting excerpts from the Shi'ar computer manual.  In other words, I'd love some company."

"The systems are back up, then?" Kurt asked, pulling up a chair.

"Only internally," Bobby answered.  "I promised Kit I'd wait until she got here to do anything else."

"Oh," Kurt replied dejectedly.

"Problem?" Bobby asked.

"Vat?  Nein – I just have some research to do, and I wanted to access the internet.  I'll have to go down to the seminary, I suppose.  Did Katzchen indicate how long it would take to get us reconnected to the outside world?"

"Not really, just that she's got some work to do on the firewall," Bobby answered.  "But hey," he added, having a sudden thought.  "My laptop's got its own internet connection – want to use it to dial out?  I wouldn't think that would cause any problems."

"It shouldn't – Warren's been in the library for hours dialing out with his.  Would you mind?" Kurt asked, relieved.  "I'm a bit behind on my work, and I really don't want to run into my instructor until my assignment is done."

"Nah, no problem.  Let me leave a note for Kitty, and we can go down to my room and get it."  He quickly scrawled a note letting Kit know he'd be back in a few minutes, and he and Kurt began the trek to his room.

"So, Bobby, how are you and Katzchen getting along?" Kurt asked, and grinned mischievously as Bobby looked at him in surprise.

"Come now, Bobby – you know how the rumor mill around here works as well as anyone," Kurt answered, putting his hand on Bobby's shoulder.  "You two no sooner left the mansion last night than Rogue had told half its inhabitants.  Besides," he admitted, "Kitty talked to me yesterday morning.  When I saw how the two of you interacted at the meeting, I assumed…if I was wrong, I apologize.  Perhaps I read too much into things."

"No, it's ok" Bobby replied, wondering vaguely if he should listen to Rogue's gossip more often – maybe he'd find out what he was going to do next before he did it.  "We're getting along fine.  I even passed inspection by her dragon – at least, he didn't bite off any fingers, which struck me as a positive sign."

"Ah yes, Lockheed is rather protective of Kitty.  I've never known him to bite, though – at least, no one who wasn't actively attacking, that is."

"Well, that's reassuring," Bobby said, as they stopped at the door to his room.  "Want to come in?  It'll take me a minute to get everything together."

"Sure."

As Bobby began to bundle up various cords and peripherals, Kurt wandered around the room.  "You know, despite the many years I spent away from the mansion, I always left some things here, too.  Of course, many of them were destroyed with the various explosions of the building," he joked, "but somehow it always seemed more like home, knowing that some part of me remained here."

"Yeah, I know what you mean.  I've been here so seldom, relatively speaking, over the last couple of years, but I can't bring myself to get rid of this stuff," Bobby replied, gesturing at the clutter on his desk and the posters on the walls.  "Of course, it could also just be we're too lazy to clean up…"

Kurt looked for a moment as if he were seriously considering the idea, then grinned.  "A definite possibility, Herr Drake, but let's let everyone assume a more sentimental cause – I'm sure it will enhance both our images far more than the truth would," he said.  The two of them grinned at each other, and Bobby thought, not for the first time, how much better he would have fit in with the second group of X-Men.  He remembered how he'd originally objected to their "invasion" of the mansion, and shook his head, embarrassed even at this late date by his reaction.  He'd gotten to know Kurt fairly well at Scott's bachelor party and other occasions, and had been on the team at the same time as many of the others, most notably Storm and Rogue.  While he wouldn't trade Hank's friendship for anything, he thought it would have been much more fun having classes with Kurt, Rogue, and Kitty than it had been with Warren and Scott, both of whom had spent more time drooling over Jean and glaring at each other than they had doing anything else.

"Before we go – a word about Katzchen?"

"Yes," Bobby answered, bracing himself for the "Big brother" treatment.

"I once threatened Herr Wisdom with what Brian and I would do if he hurt Kitty," Kurt added, clasping Bobby's shoulder and grinning.  "Remind me to share the story with you some time – I still wish I had a picture of the look on his face.  I've heard nothing bad about you, and Hank vouches for you.  Since I've come to value his opinion in the last few months, I'll hold off on the threats, for now."

"Thanks, I think," Bobby replied cautiously.

"Which is not to say that I don't have the right to make such threats later, if circumstances warrant," Kurt added firmly, letting go of Bobby's shoulder.  "Kitty is like a sister to me.  I reserve a brother's right to threaten if necessary."  Bobby stared at him, trying to decide if he was serious or not, until Kurt began laughing.  "In the meantime, though, would you like to accompany me?  I may need assistance in forcibly removing Warren from the modem line.  I really need to get this assignment done.  And, if you would be so kind, would you help me set up your laptop?"

"Sure.  I almost forgot - I've got to make it stop dialing randomly," Bobby answered.  In response to Kurt's questioning look, he added, "Hey, I figured it was a good way to get to know her – who knew we were about to be hacked, anyway?"  Kurt stared at him for a moment, then began laughing again.  Realizing how ridiculous he had sounded, Bobby joined in, and together they walked down the stairs to the library, trading stories about outrageous things they'd done to meet girls.

"Domina, are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Seth, typing frantically while Domina paced behind him, dictating.

"If we would choose allies, best we test them first, don't you agree?" she replied in a tone that strongly indicated it would be wise to agree.  

"Of course, Domina."

After he'd helped Kurt get the laptop setup in the library (Warren, unfortunately, was no longer there when they arrived), Bobby returned to the computer room, where he found Kitty hard at work in front of the computer he hadn't turned on.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asked.

"Pretty good – I'm actually pretty much done here," she replied, not turning from the monitor.  "I got security restored, and I think I've weeded out all the back doors they inserted to get back in.  Did you get Kurt set up?"

"Yeah, not a problem," Bobby answered, sitting down behind her.

"What about your modem problem?" she asked innocently.

"Oh, it seems to be ok now," he replied.  He was glad she wasn't looking at him; he was fairly sure his face was bright red.

"Oh good – it took you a lot less time to fix it than it did to set it up," she answered.

"Yeah, well, all I had to do was remove the script – hey, you knew all along?" he blurted out.

Kitty laughed.  "No.  I suspected, but I didn't know until just now.  I'm kind of flattered, actually – no one ever screwed up their computer just to have a reason to talk to me before.  You'll have to tell me how you did it sometime – I might want to use it on someone."

"Sure, not a problem," he replied, relieved that she wasn't mad.  "Hey, what do you want to do after this?" he asked.  "We could go catch a show, or –"

"Hmm, this is strange," she said suddenly, interrupting him.  He turned to see what she was looking at.

"What's strange?"

"I just brought up the T1 line a few minutes ago, and I thought I'd check my e-mail.  It looks like we've got a message from our former hackers."

"What does it say?" he asked, peering over her shoulder.

"Just an address, actually," she said, puzzled.  "In New York City, no less.  You think it's an invitation?"

"Sounds like," Bobby replied.  "Think we should go tell Jean?"

"Why bother?" Kitty answered, turning to face him.  "She didn't want to be bothered with the whole thing before, I can't imagine she'll be any more interested now.  Well, maybe she would be," she admitted, "but I really don't see that telling her is necessary, anyway.  It'll just go to committee, and everyone will debate it for days before they do anything.  Why don't we just go check it out?" she asked teasingly.  "After all, Jean did say we should take care of the computer systems, right?  Finding out why it happened is a logical component, I'd say."

Bobby grinned.  "Oh, Jean'd LOVE that.  The two kids off by themselves on a mission?  And without clearing it with her, first?  I dunno, though – maybe we should get some backup, just in case," he added, unsure that they should be jumping into this blindly.

"Ok, so we leave a message.  With Kurt, maybe.  He's trusted me to act on my own initiative before, so I doubt he'll say anything, but he can come bail us out if we're not back in a day or two.  I don't know about you, but I think I'd rather check this out ourselves than drag the whole team into it."

Bobby thought it over.  Unlike Kitty, he wasn't accustomed to solo missions – Scott had frowned on that sort of thing.  Or at least, he'd never sent Bobby on one.  Grimacing at the thought, he made up his mind.

"Ok, I'm in.  How do you want to play this?"

Kitty thought for a moment, then stood up.  "Here's our story – we're going out tonight."

"Original.  Seems to me I asked you out tonight," Bobby quipped.

"See?  It's believable.  Best type of cover story – keep it simple.  Out to dinner, I think, and then we'll play it from there – that'll keep everyone else from wanting to tag along."

"Sounds good.  Let me guess – I should go tell Rogue?"

"Hmmm, I was thinking Hank, but Rogue'd probably be better – she gossips more.  Tell anyone you run into, though – it can't hurt.  The more people think we're out for a night on the town, the less likely it'll be that they'll question what we really are doing.  In the meantime, I'll go tell Kurt what's really going on, and get some gear together.  We meet out at your car in say, an hour?" she asked, and Bobby could sense she was really in her element.  Kurt had mentioned something about Kitty being a natural born field leader during their time with Excalibur – Bobby could understand why, now.

"It's a deal."


	12. Chapter 12

I don't own the X-Men.  They, and all the characters, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them.  I'm making no money off of this, either – blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff.

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, to Derrick Duncan without whose suggestions this chapter would probably never have been finished, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 12 

When Kitty finally came out of the mansion an hour later, she found Bobby throwing a duffel bag in the trunk of his car.

"Any problems?" she asked as she walked up, juggling a large duffel of her own, her laptop, and a cooler.

"Hey, let me help you with that," Bobby said, grabbing the cooler just as it began to slip.

"Thanks – I had everything balanced until I had to open the door," she said, putting the duffel in the trunk and setting the laptop case down on the ground.  "Kurt asked if he could keep your laptop, so I grabbed mine instead," she added.  "I figured the cooler was the easiest way to get the equipment out of the building without any awkward questions."

"Good idea," Bobby said, hefting it into the car's backseat.  "What'd he have to say about the rest of it?"

"Just the usual warnings to be careful," she lied.  Actually, Kurt had had quite a bit to say on the subject, enough to make her realize just how blindly she was jumping into what could easily be a trap.  Only her assurances that this was only a reconnaissance and her promise to do some more investigating en route convinced him not the alert the rest of the team, or, at the very least, insist on coming along himself.  "He did insist we check in regularly, though – not on the mansion's phone," she added quickly, "just on his cell."

"Makes sense," Bobby replied as he rearranged things in the trunk to his liking.  "If there's one thing I've learned over the years from Scott, and I admit I learned as little as possible if only to piss him off, it's how important it is to keep communications open with whoever's backing you up.  By the time you **need** backup, it's usually too late to call for it."

Kitty nodded her agreement, marveling again at how much the X-Men managed to underestimate Bobby.  She'd seen many of  her teammates, both among Excalibur and the X-Men, barge into unknown situations without giving a thought to whether or not backup was available, let alone how to communicate with them.  She'd been known to do it herself, she had to admit, though she liked to think she'd matured past that point.

"So, what did you tell everyone?" she asked finally.

"Oh, pretty much what we'd agreed," Bobby replied, shrugging.  "I threw in that if it got too late, we'd probably crash at my parents' – I figured that would explain the duffels, and keep everyone from worrying if we weren't back by morning."

"Good idea," Kitty said, getting into the car and pulling her laptop out of its case.

"Yeah, well, Hank gave me kind of a funny look, like he does when he figures I'm up to something, but he didn't push it.  I don't know – it feels kinda weird, going off by ourselves.  No spandex, no team leader – I haven't been on many missions like this, and the last time was when Scott sent me and Sam Guthrie to infiltrate Graydon Creed's presidential campaign.  That – well, it didn't turn out so well," he finished weakly, and Kitty realized that was when his father had been beaten nearly to death.  "I guess you did a lot of this type of thing with Excalibur?" he asked hopefully as he backed out of the parking space and began driving out the gate.

"Well, not a lot, but some," she admitted, remembering the Dream Nails mission she'd gone on with Pete at the beginning of their relationship.  She continued quickly, trying to distract him from thinking too much about the results of **his** last "solo" mission.  "Kurt was never the type of team leader Scott or Ororo was – he was a lot more laid back, but then, Excalibur didn't usually have the same type of problems that the stateside teams always did.  Up until the end, we were always accepted by the British – they treated us kind of like their own version of the Avengers.  It was kind of cool," she confided.  "I mean, people weren't running from us screaming 'Ahhh – mutants!' they were more likely trying to flocking us trying to score Kurt or Rachel's autograph.  Sometimes even mine," she added, laughing.  "But not when Rachel was around.  I hadn't realized just how bad the 'mutant situation' had gotten here.  I mean, I'd heard, but it wasn't the same as living it.  I really miss England.  I even went to boarding school there for a while, if you can believe that.  When my classmates finally found out I was a mutant, they thought it was cool.  The only thing they were upset about," she said wryly, "is that I hadn't told them sooner.  And that I wouldn't give them any juicy gossip about Brian and Meggan."

"Yeah, I know the feeling.  When I was with the Defenders, or even the Champions, we were more public, and not everyone on the team was a mutant.  I wonder sometimes if that wasn't a better way to go – it seems we did a lot more for human/mutant relations as just plain heroes than as 'mutant heroes'."

"I hear you.  I think sometimes the Professor's dream got warped somewhere along the way.  Instead of separating mutants from humans, just think how much could have been achieved if we'd integrated instead?  Oh," she conceded, "no doubt some of us would have ended up heroes in any case – I can't picture Ororo or Scott doing anything else.  But, well, look at Cecelia Reyes.  I met her a while back, and you can't tell me she doesn't accomplish more as a doctor than she ever would have as an X-Man."  

"Or Hank.  Damn, think of all the scientific accomplishments he could have piled up by now if he hadn't been pulled away from his lab every five minutes to fight the mutant menace of the day," Bobby added.

"I think – well, I think that's what the Professor originally wanted," Kitty mused, setting her laptop aside for the moment.  "He wanted to train mutants in how to use their powers, and I agree with that – an untrained mutant can be as much a menace to him or herself as to anybody else.  But he wanted humans and mutants to live together in peace.

"There were just sooo many distractions, so many menaces out there, that the dream turned reactionary.  Instead of teaching us to live among normal humans, we ended up trying to protect them, and that set us up as something apart, something different.  And the more those differences were accentuated, the more normal humans saw us as a threat."

"Yeah, well, not much of a threat anymore," Bobby joked.

"But they still see us as one," Kitty replied sadly.  "Look at those idiot FOH guys who set the mansion on fire last month.  What was the point?  We're no threat – or at least, no non-traditional one, we've got Shi'ar weaponry stashed away, but we're not about to use it any more than the average guy with a hunting rifle is going to go on a killing spree.  We're not even mutants anymore.  But they still came after us, and I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't used the danger room technology to create a holographic dragon –"

"Hey, that was you?" Bobby broke in, grinning.  "Hank told me about that.  Pretty cool."

"Yeah, well, I figured it was an easy way to get them to disperse so we could put out the fire before anyone got hurt," Kitty said blushing.  She picked up her laptop and began hooking it up to her cell phone for an internet connection. "The point is, they felt threatened."  
  


"Wasn't that the idea?  I mean, a holographic dragon would spook most people, if it looked real," Bobby said.

"No, I mean they felt threatened just because they knew we'd been mutants.  Let's face it – most people don't know any mutants, or they don't know that they do.  Do your customers know you were Iceman?"

"A couple of them do, but they don't care – and they're the type of people who probably come to me because they know I was Iceman," he admitted.  "The others – well, some may suspect – I was pretty high profile when I was with X-Factor, I did most of the media relations after we thought Warren died.  Everyone else was too wrapped up with their own problems," he added when she looked at him, surprised.  "But I'd guess the rest don't.  I haven't seen any real reason to advertise it – it really doesn't have much to do with accounting."

"Exactly.  And I'll bet that even most of those who saw you with X-Factor don't put two and two together.  After all, mutants are evil menaces out to destroy the world, not accountants, or doctors, or scientists."

"So you're saying that if Xavier hadn't turned us into a mutant task force, so to speak, mutants wouldn't be perceived as a threat?  I don't know if I can go along with that – there are mutants who are threats, after all," Bobby replied, shaking his head.  "Keep in mind Magneto, and Sinister, and Apocalypse, and all the rest of them haven't exactly been great advertising for mutantkind."

"No, I realize that.  But if more of us had been out there as publicly known mutants, and people knew us as being just regular people despite that, it might have had a more positive effect that all the fighting and hiding we've done over the years."

"Makes sense.  Doesn't really matter now, though, does it?  I mean, the High Evolutionary took care of all that – boom, no more mutants."

"No, but it's something to keep in mind for later.  Who knows how this will play out?  That's why I'm taking advantage of the downtime to get my degree.  I don't really plan on going back to the X-Men full-time, no matter what happens," she confided.  "Being Shadowcat was fun, but I think I can do more as Kitty Pryde.  How about you?  Given the choice, would you go back to being Iceman?"

Bobby fell silent for a few minutes, and Kitty could see he was really giving it serious thought.  She pulled her laptop back into her lap and connected to the mansion's systems, and began a cross-reference check between the address she'd received in the e-mail message and the mansion's databases to see if there was any information that would give her an idea as to what they were heading into.  Finally, Bobby answered.

"No, or at least, I don't think so.  I never really wanted to be Iceman.  Oh, it was a kick now and then, and hanging with Hank was always fun, but being an X-Man was never something I really wanted to do.  It just kind of happened, and I got wrapped up in it.  I might miss it sometimes, but I'm actually happier doing people's accounts than I was saving the world every few days.  Of course," he joked, "if the world really needed saving, I'd probably feel a bit different about it.  But being Bobby Drake is a lot more satisfying than being the Iceman, even if I do have to remember to fill the ice cube trays like everyone else."

"What if you could have it both ways, though?" Kitty asked, curious.  "Would you want to go back to being a mutant, even if you didn't rejoin the X-Men, or would you stay baseline human?"

"Hmmm, good question.  Being a mutant was a drag in some ways – and no, don't ask, because I'm not going into that" he answered mock-seriously, wagging his finger at her, and she had to laugh.  "Seriously, though – I guess I would go back.  I got used to me that way, you know?  I feel kinda like someone else now.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing – no one complains about the temperature going down when I'm in the room anymore – but hey, I was used to that.  I don't know, am I making any sense?" he asked, glancing at her.  "I don't exactly miss being a mutant, per se, but I miss being the me I was used to being." 

Kitty pretended to think about it seriously for a moment, as if she were trying to make sense of what he'd just said, until she saw that Bobby was getting a little uncomfortable.  She grinned, and answered, "Yes, of course you make sense.  I feel the same way.  Being a mutant was part of who I was, both the advantages and disadvantages.   And there were **definitely** disadvantages," she added laughing.  She saw Bobby glance at her, his eyebrows raised.  "Hey, I'm not telling if you won't!" she objected, blushing.

"Maybe some other time," he said, and she saw he was blushing too.

"Yeah," she agreed, relieved.  "Anyway, my abilities were a part of what made me, me.  I feel kind of cheated by the whole thing."  Just then, her laptop beeped, and she glanced down to see the results.  "Hmm, interesting…"

"What is?  What're you doing?" Bobby asked, trying to glance at her laptop and keep his eyes on the road at the same time.

"Trying to get some more info on our would-be hosts," she replied.  "I patched into the mansion's systems.  It seems Cerebro picked up some anomalous readings from the area once or twice."

"Mutants?" Bobby asked.

"Inconclusive.  The Professor couldn't decide how to classify them – they didn't match any known signature, either mutant or alien.  He marked it for future investigation, but apparently never got back to it."

"Not surprising," Bobby replied, shrugging.  "The guy's got to have a 'To Do' list longer than mine during tax season."

"No kidding.  Anyway, I'm checking police reports now, and I think I'll check the FOH database too."

"You can get into that?" Bobby asked, amazed.

"Sure, their security sucks.  I broke in after the last attack to see if they were planning anything else, but apparently they'd don't keep that kind of information in their computer systems.  I got a list of all the mutants they knew about, though, including some we didn't."  
  


"What'd Jean say?" Bobby asked.

"Oh, the usual invasion of privacy crap, and how the Professor would have been disappointed in me," Kitty admitted.  "As if he never snooped where he wasn't wanted.  I noticed she kept the records, though.  No, our buddies with the FOH don't have anything," she added, glancing at the screen.  "Not much from the cops, either; just a couple of reports of 'suspicious looking individuals'."

"Any details?" Bobby asked.

"Not really.  Fascial tattoes are mentioned, but that's about all.  They kept an eye on things for a few days, but when nothing happened they apparently lost interest."

"When was that?"

"Earlier this month.  The Prof's notes are a couple of years old, though."

"So, the questions are, one, are they the same people, giving the time between the two reports, 2) if so, have they been there all that time and no one noticed, or did they leave and come back for some reason, and 3) what do they want with the Legacy virus info and the X-Men, especially if they're not mutants?" Bobby said, counting them off on his fingers.

"Don't know," Kitty answered, shutting down her connection and closing her laptop.  "We're getting close, though – how about we go and check things out?"

"Sounds like a plan," Bobby answered, pulling over to the curb.  He looked at the crumbling buildings around them, and grimaced.  "Lousy neighborhood for a walk, though.  You'd think self-respecting computer hackers would have a better address."

"Yeah, well, everyone falls on hard times once in a while, I guess.  Look at some of the places Magneto's hung out over the years."

"Good point.  Hey, do you think if I left the car unlocked someone would be so kind as to steal it?" Bobby joked.

Kitty pretended to consider it carefully, then answered.  "Doubtful.  They'd probably just take my laptop, and I'd guess it's worth more than the car," Kitty replied, climbing out and looking around.  "Besides, we'd have to walk home, and I'd really rather not."

"And another good point for the lovely lady," Bobby said, making a point of locking his car doors.   He held out his arm for her, and she linked hers through it.  "Shall we?"

"What a gentleman," Kitty said, smiling, and took his arm.  She let it go abruptly as her cell phone rang, and she groped through her bag for it.  

"Hi Kurt, I was just about to call you," she said, rolling her eyes at Bobby's crestfallen look.  "Yeah, we're here – check your mail, I sent you all the info I could find, which admittedly wasn't much.  We're just going to take a quick walk past, then see if we can find somewhere to camp out and observe.  Shouldn't be a problem – lots of abandoned buildings around.  Yes, we'll be careful.  Yeah, he's here," she said, and held out the phone to Bobby.  "Kurt wants to talk to you." He took it, and she had to smile at the one-sided conversation, her mind filling in the blanks automatically in a German accent.

"Yeah, doesn't look too bad – lousy neighborhood, but not a dangerous one I'd guess."

("You have a lot of experience with dangerous neighborhoods, mein freund?)

"Well, I've seen a few, and this doesn't look like one.  No gang signs, no one driving by and shooting – just abandoned."

(You do realize you could be walking into a trap, don't you?)

"As Jubilee would say, 'well, duhh'.  C'mon Kurt, I've been doing this at least as long as you have.  We'll be careful."

(And take care of Katzchen?)

"Of course.  I want a chance to take her somewhere nice – as second dates go, this isn't really a great setting, you know?  Look, I gotta go before she takes off without me.  We'll call back later, ok?  Bye," Bobby said, hanging up before Kurt could give any more unsolicited advice.  Kitty was trying so hard not to laugh that she was biting her lip, but Bobby just grinned and shrugged his shoulders.  "Gotta love big brothers, huh?"

"Yeah, well, he means well.  C'mon, let's go," she said, slipping her arm back through Bobby's.  They'd walked about a block when she heard another phone ringing.  Shrugging, Bobby pulled out his cell phone.

"Hello?" he said, and grinned.   At Kitty's puzzled look, he mouthed "It's Hank" before turning back to the call.

"Yeah, I'm still here – no, we haven't gotten there yet.  Huh?  Yeah, I know it shouldn't take this long – we made a wrong turn."  Kitty grinned at that.  Apparently Hank was an even bigger big brother than Kurt.

"No, I'm not trying to be evasive," she heard, turning her attention back to what Bobby was saying.  "Why do you say that?"

"No, Hank, I am not up to anything.  C'mon, would I lie to you?"

"Ok, yes, I would, but no, I'm not.  Look, I'm on a date here, guy.  I'll talk to you later, ok?  Go play with your microscope or something, will you?"

After a pause, Bobby laughed and said, "Yeah, I'll tell her.  Bye."  Hanging up the phone, Bobby turned to Kitty and said, "Hank says to tell you that whatever we're up to, take care of me."  Shrugging, he added, "I never could pull anything over on him.  

"Want to place a beg that he's heading over to ask Kurt what we're up to by now?" Kitty asked, laughing.

"No bet," Bobby replied, grinning.

Suddenly, they heard a scream.

"Look!" Kitty shouted, pointing at a small figure hanging from the broken railing of a fire escape, about five stories from the street.  "Hang on!" she shouted, and took off at a run, vaguely aware that Bobby was right behind her.  She reached the building, and jumped up to reach the bottom of the fire escape, swinging her legs up onto it in a move that would have done a gymnast proud.  She dropped the ladder down for Bobby, and began climbing up quickly.  "Just hang on – I'll be there in a second," she called to the figure, which she now could see was that of a young girl, maybe eight or nine years old.  When she finally reached the landing from which the child hung, she leaned over the edge, stretching out her arm.  "Just grab on," she said, and the girl did.  Kitty pulled her up to the landing, hugging her to her and stroking her hair, as Bobby came up behind them.  She realized something wasn't quite right when she noticed that the child, far from crying or shaking as she'd expected, had stiffened suddenly, reached inside her coat and pulled back.

"Take this, spikes," the girl snarled, the red tattoes on her face clear despite the dim light, and sprayed what looked like an aerosol can right at Kitty's face.

"Bobby, look out…" Kitty said as she fell to the metal landing.  She didn't even realize when Bobby fell too, right on top of her.

Another figure climbed out the window, and clasped the young girl's shoulder.  "Good work, Cailin.  Now, run along inside."

"What about the spikes, Domina?" the girl asked, looking down at them.  "They weren't so tough, but the lady was fast, and seemed pretty nice."

"I'll take care of them," Domina assured her, and watched the girl climb back in the window.  "I have some plans for our new 'friends'," she added, as a man climbed out to join her, and they began pulling the unconscious pair into the building.


	13. Chapter 13

I don't own the X-Men. They, and all the characters, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, to Derrick (Hemmlocke) who, contrary to reports, is NOT Bobby's evil twin, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback! It is GREATLY appreciated.

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 13 

Bobby woke up with his head throbbing like it had the day after Scott's bachelor's party, and sleepily rubbed at it, wondering where he had fallen asleep.   And how.  The bed was awfully hard.  What had he been doing to get such a hangover, anyway?  Suddenly, he remembered what had happened, and sat up abruptly, choking down the wave of nausea that struck with the sudden motion.  

The first thing his fogged brain took in when he opened his eyes was that Kitty was lying only a few yards away from him, wherever he was.  She wasn't moving, and from where he sat he couldn't see whether or not she was breathing, but she was there.  He took a deep breath and looked around.

There wasn't much to see.  He was in a fairly dark room; the only light seemed to be coming in from a small grid in the bottom of the door, probably put there originally for ventilation.  The room was completely bare; no carpet, no furniture, no apparent windows, and was maybe ten feet square.  He looked down, and saw that he was wearing only his shorts.  "So much for calling for help," he thought disgustedly.  "Why is it the bad guys never forget to take the cell phone?"

He stood up, fighting another wave of nausea, and began walking over to where Kitty was lying, when he stumbled.  Catching his balance, he reached down and felt the band around his ankle.  Peering at it, he realized that it was translucent, no doubt explaining why he hadn't seen it in the first place, and did not appear to have any locking mechanism or joint.  It was joined seemlessly to a tether.  Carefully running his hand along it, he followed it back to it's place of origin, the wall behind him and Kitty.  Again, there seemed to be no place to disconnect it from, but he did note that another cable began at the same place, leading in Kitty's direction.  Good.  He crawled rather than walked along it, not ready for any further surprises, until he reached her side.

She was breathing, he noted with relief.  He brushed her hair back from her face, and felt something sticky at her temple.  He brought his hand near his face, and sniffed.  Blood.  This was not good.  He knew from Hank as well as from experience that head wounds were tricky – they could bleed heavily and be not much of anything, or bleed lightly on the outside while most of the bleeding took place within.  Softly, he said, "Kitty?"

"Hmmmm?" she mumbled groggily, turning over.

"Kitty, it's me.  You've got to wake up."

"Huh? Bobby?  Wha'…"

"It was a trap.  Your head's bleeding, and it's dark, and I can't see how bad it is," he explained rapidly, growing more concerned.  

"Ca' Kur'?"

"Huh?  Oh, no, I can't call Kurt.  They, uh, got my cell phone," he said weakly, noticing just then that they'd removed most of Kitty's clothes as well.  "Come on, Kit, you've got to sit up," he added.

"Don' think I c'n…"

"Sure you can – here, I'll help you," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders and lifting her to a sitting position where she wobbled, threatening to tip over.

"I don' feel so good…" she mumbled.

"I didn't either, but it's passing," he said, realizing it was.  "But you've got to sit up – you know as well as I do you shouldn't sleep if you have a concussion."

She mumbled something of which he caught only a few words.  Piecing them together, he laughed.  "Yeah, I know I'm a real shit, and no, this isn't my idea of a great date, either.  But you'll feel better sooner if you're sitting up."

"Yeah, I know – where are we?" she asked, carefully, and Bobby let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.  Hopefully she didn't have a concussion at all – she'd been closer to the spray stuff then he had.  Maybe she'd just gotten a stronger dose.

"Don't know.  Don't get up, though –" he cautioned as she began to try to get to her feet.  "Wait until you're a little more steady.  They've got us on pretty short leashes."

"Leashes?" she asked indignantly, her hand going first to her throat, then down to her ankle.  "Shit," she added, realizing her lack of outer clothing, and Bobby could almost feel her blush.  "Where's a mutant ability when you need one?" she joked nervously.  She began testing the band around her ankle, trying to stretch or pry it, then gave a few tugs at the attached cable.  

"Tell me about it – my first instinct was to freeze it, but needless to say that didn't work," Bobby replied, sitting back.  

"Actually, I was thinking more about turning invisible just then, but phasing would be good too," she answered.

"Don't do that – the view's the only good thing about this situation," he joked.

"Hmmm, there is that," she replied, looking him over.  "Yeah, I suppose that's the least of our problems.  It's just…"

"Yeah, I know – kinda early in the relationship for this sort of thing, huh?" Bobby replied, trying to sound casual.  The truth was, he'd spent so much of his life wearing little more than his underwear that it didn't bother him much, but he could understand her embarrassment.  Not, he added idly, that she had anything to be embarrassed about.

"Not how I thought it would happen, that's for sure," Kitty said, and laughed, breaking off suddenly to put her hand to her head.  

"What?"

"Oh, I was just thinking how cliché this whole thing is – if I had a dollar for every time it seems a pair of X-Men ended up locked up somewhere without their clothes on I'd be able to buy a new laptop."

Bobby laughed, too, his mind turning immediately to Logan and Jean in Genosha.  "No kidding.  I wonder sometimes if we should just skip the spandex altogether – no one seems to wear it long.  Either it gets ripped up, usually in the worst possible places, or some villain removes it as soon as we've been captured.  Can't recall any specific incidents where people ended up in their underwear, though – normally it all comes off."

"It is kind of weird, now that you mention it, but I can't say I'm complaining, either," Kitty replied, unconsciously crossing her arms in front of herself.  She noticed what she was doing, shrugged, and dropped them to her sides. 

"Ouch, I think that was an insult.  Come on, tell me, is there someone else you'd rather be locked up with naked?" Bobby joked.

"Not that I can think of," she assured him, her hands returning to the band around her ankle.  

"Well, that's a relief," he answered, and realized it was.  "I mean, at least Logan and Jean had it easy in Genosha – both of them HAD to know that the other was interested for like, years, before they got locked up together."  He had a sudden thought, and said, "Hey, Kitty…"

"What?" she asked.

"Do you think something's going on with Jean and Logan?"

"What?" she asked, shocked.

"Well, Jean's acting weird, and Logan's not acting himself…it's not like there's never been a connection there before…"

Kitty thought about for less than a second before answering, "Couldn't be, Bobby.  That was a long time ago, anyway.  I'll agree Jean's acting weird, but she's always a little weird anyway.  Logan – well, Logan has his own reasons for acting strange – if he was acting normal I'd be more concerned.  But I can't picture anything happening there."

"No, you're probably right," he agreed.  "It was just a thought.  Anyway, what do we do next?"

"Hmmm – let me try something here."  He couldn't really see what she was doing, except that it involved quite a bit of flexibility that he'd appreciate a lot more in another scenario.  When he saw Kitty glance up self-consciously, he forced himself to look away, but the picture of her nearly naked body had already burned itself into his brain, and he let his mind wander while examining it thoroughly, speculating on what he'd rather be doing under these circumstances if he weren't tied to a wall.  He was suddenly brought back to reality as the near silence was broken by Kitty standing up.  Turning to look at her, he saw that she was now holding looping the detached tether around her hand and elbow.  

"Hey, how'd you do that?" he asked, amazed.

"Ninja training has its advantages," she replied, smiling, and set the coiled line down on the ground.  "Here, let me see what I can do with yours," she added, bending over his ankle.  He lied back, trying to relax even as his body became more and more acutely aware of just how close she was, and just how little both of them were wearing.  He felt her cool hands on his ankle, and squirmed as she inadvertently tickled his foot.

"Oops, sorry," she said, looking anything but.  He took a deep breath before replying.

"Not a problem.  Never let it be said that I complained about anything a nearly naked woman did to me while I was tied up."

Kitty giggled.  "Hadn't thought of it that way – you have a warped mind, Bobby."

"Nah, just a male one," he retorted.

"There's a difference?" she joked, then pulled suddenly.  As the line abruptly gave way, Bobby's foot inadvertently kicked out, catching Kitty in the ribs.  He heard her gasp, and sat up quickly.

"Aw shit – Kitty, are you ok?  I'm really sorry…"

"Yeah – oh shit, I can't breathe, hang on."  He heard her take a deep breath, and exhale slowly.  "Yeah, I'm ok – next time I do that to someone, I've really GOT to remember I can't phase out of the way," she said in such an exasperated tone that Bobby had to laugh.

"Well, if I'm the someone in question next time, I promise to remind you," he assured her in a mock-serious tone.  "Anyway, thanks," he added, rubbing his ankle, which was a little sore from her tugging at it.  "What now?"

"Time to check out of here, if possible," she said confidently, rising to her feet and reaching out a hand to him.  He took it, but pulled her down on his lap instead of standing up.

"Hey!  Bobby – what are you doing?" she asked, and Bobby couldn't tell if she was amused or irritated.

"Just saying thanks," he replied, and kissed her.  She started to pull back, then, with an almost imperceptible shrug of her shoulders, responded wholeheartedly.  He resisted a nearly overwhelming urge to lay her down on the floor of their cell and begin removing what little clothing she had on, and instead broke the kiss off, asking, "Now, what did you say about getting out of here?"

He knew it had to be his imagination, but Kitty looked almost disappointed.  "Well, if you want to stay, I suppose we could hang out here for a while, but I was thinking we might want to get out…"

"What did you have in mind?" he asked, peering around to see if there was an exit he wasn't aware of.

"Turn around," she replied, and he looked at her, now really confused.  "Just turn around already, ok?" she said, exasperated.  She stood back up, and he turned around, half expecting to see a newly materialized doorway, but instead he saw the same wall he'd been looking at earlier.

"Ok, you can turn back now," she said a moment later, and he turned to see her holding what looked an awful lot like –

"Lock picks?  Kitty, WHERE did you have lock picks stashed?"

"Don't ask, 'cause I won't tell," she replied, unconsciously adjusting her bra strap.  "Logan always told me to be prepared for anything," she added, shrugging, as he just stared at her.

"Good call," he answered, nodding.  Damn - beautiful, intelligent, and **incredibly** competent – what did she need him for, again?

"Knock it off, Bobby," she said, and he stared at her.  He was **sure** he hadn't said that aloud – almost sure, anyway…

"I know that look already.  It's going to take both of us to get out of here.  Just because I've had some training you haven't does not make me super-human, nor does it make you incompetent.  So please, don't do this now, ok?" she pleaded.  "Come on – get over here and stand guard – I'm going to have to concentrate.  Ororo showed me how to do this a few times, but it's been years."

"Let me then," he said, taking a deep breath and holding out his hand.  At Kitty's questioning look, he said, "Rogue showed me last year when we went on a road trip.  I'm not great at it, but I've had some practice since then – it comes in handy when Scott actually REMEMBERS to lock his room."

"Rogue?" Kitty asked, surprised, handing him the lockpicks.

"Well, she'd absorbed Remy, remember?" Bobby answered, while he began fiddling with the lock.  "While she blocked most of what she'd absorbed, she thought the lock picking might be useful.  Said the best way to remember something is to teach it, so she taught me while she still had the skill.  I don't know if she remembered or not, but, like I said, it comes in handy sometimes…"

"Hey, you won't catch me complaining – like I said, I never was very good at it.  I kept the lockpicks, just in case, but aside from caching a set in my uniform and another in - well, let's just say I keep them handy, ok?" Kitty said as Bobby glanced up, grinning. 

"Not a problem."  He added casually, as he turned back to the lock.  "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you keep a set of lockpicks in your bra."

"You peeked!" she said, punching him on the arm.

"Owww!  No I didn't – where else would you have had them?  But I have to ask – don't they poke?"

"A little," she admitted.  "I got Betsy to sew them in by the underwire, so it's not too bad.  She sews better than I do – when I tried it it was awful.  It's not like I wear it all the time, I keep this one for occasions like this  - why are we talking about this, anyway?"

"Just curious," he said, grinning.  "Besides, what else is there to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know – the weather, the future of mutantkind, pick a topic."

"How about – 'We're out of here'," he said, pushing the door open just enough to let her see it was true.

"Cool!  Now, what's next?" Kitty asked, pleased, as he reclosed the door.

"You tell me, oh mission leader," he replied, bowing.

"Oh stop.  Let's talk about this first.  Do you remember anything after we got sprayed in the face?"

"Not until I woke up here, and saw you laying on the floor.  How's the head, anyway?" Bobby asked, concerned and a little embarrassed that he'd nearly forgotten her injury.

"Ok, I think," she answered, rubbing her temple.  "Got a major headache, but I don't think I've got a concussion or anything.  Needless to say, I was out – I don't remember anything either.  So we could be in the same place we were, or we could be pretty much anywhere else."

"I don't think we were unconscious very long," he said, considering.

"Why not?"

"Well – are you hungry?"

"No, now that you mention it.  And you're right – if it had been a long time, I would be by now – I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast."

"Me either – I figured we'd stop and get something when we were done, and I never got around to lunch.  So, whoever it was dragged us in here, tied us up, and left us.  Let's assume for the sake of argument that it was our buddies who invited us here."

"Almost certainly.  I've never seen anything quite like those cables – almost certainly non-terrestrial origin, which would match up with what we've guessed about them.  But why invite us here just to knock us out?  And then lock us in a room that's relatively easy to get out of?"

Bobby thought a few moments before replying.  "I don't know.  Something doesn't add up.  Even assuming that they wouldn't know how easily you could slip their leash, it all seems too easy for a real attempt to imprison us.  And why bother, anyway?  If it was the FOH or something, it'd be a lot lower tech, and they'd have probably just killed us anyway.  Someone like Sinister, and we'd have been separated, let along have had a much harder time getting free.  Something's fishy."

"You're right, we're missing something.  Let's get out of here.  You ready?" Kitty asked, pausing to pick up the cables on the floor.

"Let's blow this popsicle stand," he answered, waving her to precede him.  "Ladies first?" he asked facetiously.

"Oh, what a gentleman," she joked, cracking the door open and peering out.  "Well, at least it's light out there."

"Daylight?" he asked from behind her, ready to reconsider his idea of how long they'd been unconscious.

"No, electrical.  Damn," she said, stepping out of the room and gingerly stepping over some accumulated trash that littered the floor.  "You take me to the nicest places," she joked.

"Nothing but the best in largely abandoned buildings," he replied in the same vein. "Left or right?"

"Well, there's footprints in the dirt.  It looks like they dragged us in from that way," Kitty said, pointing toward her left.  See?  You can see something was dragged."

"Yeah.  There's footprints all over though.  I don't know – if they brought us in that way, we should be able to get out that way, too.  What do you think?  Should we leave and come back with reinforcements?"  Part of him hoped that she'd say yes, even as the other part hoped she wouldn't.  There was something, well, exhilarating about being here alone with Kitty, even under the circumstances.  Or maybe especially under the circumstances, he corrected, realizing that she looked even better in the increased light.  But, even setting that aside, he was actually enjoying this.  Not being gassed and locked up, he admitted to himself, but seeing Kitty in action was a real treat.  Being in action with her was even better…the more he thought about it, the worse calling in reinforcements sounded.

Kitty thought about it for a minute.  "I don't know.  I wish we could contact Kurt and give him an update, but with the phones gone we'd have to leave and come back, and we'd probably lose our opportunity for surprise, such as it is.  Though we could split up," she admitted.  "You could go find a phone and call for help, while I check things out here?"

"Uh, uh – you promised Hank you'd take care of me, remember?" Bobby joked.  "And even if you didn't, don't even **think** I'm leaving you alone here." 

"Well, I think we should find out what's going on.  This is just too strange.  And I guess we've got about as good a chance of finding a phone in here as we do outside in this neighborhood.  I kind of doubt you've got your keys with you under the circumstances, so we're kind of stranded.  How about you?  Are you up for it?"  Bobby laughed at her choice of words, running his eyes up and down her body, and was rewarded by her blushing.  "You know what I mean," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry," he answered insincerely.  "Blame it on the Y chromosome and the incredible view.  Yeah, let's check it out.  We go right, then?"

"Lead on MacDuff," she said, and they set off down the hallway.


	14. Chapter 14

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in his story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!  Those who aren't reviewing, please do!

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 14 

Kitty picked her way down the debris-stridden hallway, silently cursing their would-be captors for not having either cleaned the floors or left her her shoes.  She glanced at Bobby in front of her, who seemed fairly oblivious to what he stepped on, and wished her feet were as tough.  She could, she knew, just invoke her ninja training and ignore the pain completely, but it seemed like overkill.  After all, she could just avoid the larger pieces or those that looked as if they might be sharp.  

So far the hallway had been completely empty, aside from the garbage on the floor.  They'd tried a few doors, but they'd been locked.  But now they were coming up to a split in the hall, and she bent down to see if there were any footprints in the dirt.

"What's the verdict?" Bobby asked, stopping next to her.

"Not sure," she replied.  "It looks like there's traffic both ways – maybe a little less to the right, but no obvious difference.  No open doors in sight, either way."

O-kay," he said.  "Which way, then?"

"Right, I'd say.  We've got as good a chance of finding a phone, and maybe less of one of running into somebody.  We really do need to contact Kurt – we don't know how long we've been out of touch, and he may be getting ready to call in the cavalry."

Bobby grimaced, and she laughed.  "Yeah, I'd prefer to at least find some clothes before they all show up – I can hear Warren now, 'Talk about a failure, Bobby even lost his clothes this time.'"

"A failure?" Kitty said, shocked, and flipped around.  She stood up, brushed the dirt off her knees, and glared at him, her arms crossed over her chest.  "We got ambushed, yeah, and captured, but we escaped **by ourselves**, which is a lot more than most of the X-Men can say, even when they had their powers, and we don't.  The only reason we're still here is because we **chose** to be, so we can find out what's going on.  Why would we look like failures?"  She saw he was laughing, and, realizing he'd been joking, she felt herself blush.  "Sorry – I guess you struck a little too close to home.  I really, really would hate having to be bailed out, especially since we kind of took this one on ourselves…"

"Calm down, Kit," Bobby said, reaching out to stroke her face with his hand.  "I know how you feel.  We'll get hold of Kurt, and call off the troops.  But you know, there **are** worse things than admitting when you're in over your head."

"Do **you** think we are?" she asked, bristling.  "I don't think we've done so bad this far."

"Cool it, hey?  I agree, and I'd like to do this ourselves just as much as you would.  I'm just saying, don't be so dead-set on us proving ourselves that if things do deteriorate you **don't **call for help."

"Who says I'm trying to prove myself?" she grumbled, and Bobby just looked at her, his eyebrow raised.  "Oh, ok, I guess I am.  Jean's comments really bugged me, especially after the ones at the meeting the other day.  I promise if things go downhill and we have any way to call for reinforcements, I will.  Fair?"

"Fair," he agreed.  "Now, we are going to get caught if we stand here arguing.  Let's go.  Right, you said?"

"Right."  He started walking, and she followed, part of her mind admiring the view even as the other kept aware of her surroundings.  He had a really great body, she decided.  She was still a little disappointed that nothing had happened earlier when he'd pulled her onto his lap.  For a moment, she'd felt just like one of the other X-Women, who always seemed to take full advantage of opportunities like that.  Somehow, she never seemed to be the one who ended up in a cell with someone she was interested in; it was always someone like Jean or Rogue, which in a perverse way seemed sort of unfair.  At least, she reassured herself, she knew Bobby was interested in her – being on his lap for a couple of minutes had made that fairly obvious.  But it would have been kind of nice if –"

The sound of footprints other than their own brought Kitty back to reality.  Seeing a door up ahead, she ran forward and tried the door knob, which luckily turned in her hand.  "Quick – in here," she said as she peered into the room, which was luckily unoccupied.  She waved Bobby in, and closed and locked it behind them.

"Are they gone?" Bobby whispered, as Kitty bent to listen at the door.

"I think so," she replied, then turned to look around the room.  "Hey, check this out."

"I think we found where our friendly neighborhood hacker hangs out," he said, as she began looking around the room.  It was cleaner than any they'd seen thus far, and was mostly filled with computer equipment, some of which was unlike any she'd ever seen.  She walked over to what appeared at first glance to be the main console, and typed in a few commands.

"Bobby – take a look," she said, and waited until he walked up behind her.  "This is it, all right – look, here's a list of everything they downloaded."  She typed some more, and brought up a full directory.  "I'm thinking we should return the favor?" she asked, grinning.

"Can you upload everything from here?" Bobby asked, grinning back.

"I think so.  Only one way to find out.  She began typing frantically, bypassing the security she'd setup earlier, and began copying everything she found back to the Xavier Institute into a special quarantine zone she'd once setup for such purposes.  In the meantime, she realized Bobby had located a phone and was using it to call Kurt.  She turned a fraction of her attention to listening in on the conversation, while her hands and the rest of her mind continued their work.

"Hey Kurt, Bobby.  Yeah, we're ok – it was a setup, but Kit got us out…uh huh, incredible's just about the right word…" and she warmed as she glimpsed him smiling at her out of the corner of her eye, knowing he wasn't referring to them being set up.  "What?  No, we're still here, actually – Kitty's returning the favor and stealing all their data.  No, I don't think we need backup – everything's under control.  Yes, I'm sure.  Yeah, I'd guess we'll be taking off after this."  Kitty turned to look at him, and realized he was waiting for her to agree.  She shrugged and nodded.  They'd get more information, she knew, by heading home to analyze the data than they would wandering the hallways here.

"Yeah, Kitty agrees.  Soon as she's done, and we find some clothes, we'll be out of here."  As Kitty stifled a laugh, imagining Kurt's reaction to that comment, she heard Bobby continue abruptly, sounding as if he was cutting Kurt off.  "Gotta go.  Fill Hank in, will you?  I don't want to make any more calls than I have to from here, someone might notice.  Yeah, I'll explain about the comment later.  Bye."

"Kurt says to tell you that you guys are going to have a **long** talk when we get back," Bobby informed her, chuckling, after he hung up the receiver.

"Thanks a lot," she replied sarcastically, but inside she smiled.  The gossipers would have a field day with this, but for once she didn't mind.

"Almost done?" Bobby asked, leaning over her shoulder.  She felt the heat of his body against hers, leaned back into it, and was rewarded by him wrapping his arms around her.  Which was a bit distracting, she had to admit, but she wasn't about to complain, either.

"About thirty seconds.  I wish I had more time to check this all out," she said, glancing around the room with regret.

"Well, we can always come visit again," Bobby joked.  "I mean, they're such good hosts…"

Suddenly, they heard the door open behind them.

"What the hell – what are you doing in here?"  Instinct took over, and seconds later Bobby was holding the man, his hand clamped over his captive's mouth, while Kitty looked for something to tie him up with.  As Kitty looked closer at their captive, she nearly dropped the cable in her hand in shock.

"Seth?"  He turned his head to look at her face more closely, and Kitty saw his eyes go wide.

"You know this guy, Kit?" Bobby asked, as she walked toward them with a collection of network cables.

"Yeah, actually; we go to school together."  She didn't add that Seth had asked her out several times.  She'd declined, pegging him as one of the most 'normal' humans she'd ever met, though he seemed like a nice guy.  Now she wondered just how much she'd misjudged him.

"Oh, class reunion, huh?  How nice," Bobby said.  "Does that change anything?"

"Not as far as I'm concerned," Kitty replied.  She heard Seth try to say something, and saw Bobby tighten his grip over Seth's mouth.  "No, I'm doing the talking right now; wait your turn.  Let's get him on the chair," she said to Bobby.  With no real resistance on the part of their prisoner, they maneuvered him to the chair, and Kitty began tying his legs together, then to it.

"Ok, Seth, or whatever your name really is.  I know I locked that door, which means you must have unlocked it.  Does anyone else have a key?  No, don't try to talk," she said, as Bobby's hand was still over his mouth.  "Just nod; I'll stick to yes or no questions for now."  He nodded, once.  "Are they likely to come looking for you?" She saw the hope fade from his eyes, as he shook his head.  She switched places with Bobby, and said, "Good.  Bobby, get the key out of his pocket, will you?  And see if you can get his shirt off, too." At Bobby's speculative glance, she replied, "We need something to gag him with, and I don't have anything to spare.  Besides," she added, feeling her face redden, "I'm getting cold."

Bobby fished his hand into Seth's pocket, and said, "Now, don't take this personally, ok?  I wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea or anything."  Kitty grinned as he pulled out the keys and handed them to her.  "The keys to the castle, Milady?" 

"Thank you, milord – now if you'd be so kind as to get the royal robes, too?" she replied.  She laughed as Bobby shook his head and snapped his fingers, feigning disappointment, but she felt self-conscious; it had been one thing parading around in her underwear when it was just her and Bobby – she'd been a bit embarrassed, granted, but she'd reminded herself that it wasn't much more revealing than a two piece swimsuit, and, after all, she had spent a decent amount of her life in spandex.  And, she admitted to herself, Bobby's obvious appreciation of the view had done wonders for her self-esteem.  But Seth's presence had unnerved her, and she wanted more between his eyes and her than her underwear.  Bobby handed her Seth's shirt minus one sleeve, which he used to gag Seth while she gratefully donned the clothing.

"There, that's better," she said as she buttoned the last button.

"A matter of opinion," Bobby grumbled in reply as he finished tying Seth's arms to the chair with the remaining network cables.  Seth, she noticed, was staring at her as if he still couldn't believe she was there.

"What now?" Bobby added, standing up.  They walked over to the side of the room where they could talk quietly, raising their voices only when they wanted to be overheard.

Kitty thought about it for a few moments, then answered.  "Well, as I see it, we've got two choices; either we leave or we stay and ask Seth some questions.  We could leave – we've got all their computer files, after all."  She saw Seth's eyes widen and glance toward the console, as if he were trying to will the data back into their computer.  "Take that," she thought smugly, remembering how she'd felt when she realized the Institute had been hacked.  

"But you think we should stick around, right?" Bobby asked, and as she nodded she realized he was getting better and better at anticipating her.  She DID want to stay and interrogate Seth, if for no other reason that to find out what his role was in all of this, but had to grudgingly admit to herself that they should probably leave.  Before she could open her mouth to say so, however, Bobby continued.

 "Well then, let's get on with it," he said, brushing over some paperwork on the desktop and sitting down on it.  "Unless we're planning on taking him with us, and I really do NOT want to try untying those cables, we might as well find out what he knows.  Want to do the honors?  I'll just sit here and look menacing."

Kitty laughed at the thought of Bobby looking menacing (although the Marvin the Martian on his underwear did look pretty fierce), then turned to face Seth, her mood sobering.  

"Ok, Seth, there's a couple of ways we could do this.  The easy way, of course, would be for you to give me your parole, at which time I would ungag you and you would answer some questions for us."  He glared at her, and she shrugged and continued.  "No?"  Good, then here's what we'll do.  First, you can sit there and watch while I rummage through the more exotic equipment you've got here.  Don't get me wrong – I like this choice.  I was just saying to Bobby I'd really like to get my hands on it.  Of course, if something breaks, it's not mine, so I really don't care."  Actually, she didn't like this choice, and was betting Seth wouldn't either; she knew how she felt about people fiddling with her equipment, and threatening to break it would have been nearly unbearable.  She saw him slump in his chair, and knew she nearly had him.  "Of course, once I was done, we might still have some questions.  But that's not really a problem.  I know an unscrupulous telepath or two who aren't mutants.  We'll just drag you along with us, and see what they can find out before they burn your brain out."  A major bluff, here, but she was betting that seeing her here had caught him off guard and made him challenge his assumptions, perhaps enough that he might not realize, even if he'd been reading the archives, that the X-Men didn't operate that way.  As she saw him begin to squirm around uncomfortably, she knew she was right.  "Changed your mind?" she asked casually, and saw him nod reluctantly.  "Too bad," she said, shaking her head sadly.  "I really wanted a good look at that technology."

"Well, you did give him a choice, Kit," Bobby said, shrugging.  "Look at it this way – if we don't like his answers, you can still go to it."

"True," Kitty said, stifling a laugh as she watched Seth shake his head frantically.  Secretly, she was elated; she'd been half afraid Seth would call her bluff, and while she would love to look at some of the equipment around her, she rather doubted she could have brought herself to break any of it.  "You agree then – standard terms of parole.  We'll ungag you and let you get a little more comfortable, though you stay tied up, and in return you agree to answer our questions and not attempt to get anyone's attention or escape?"

Seth nodded again, and Bobby hopped down from the desk and ungagged him.

"Kitty, I had no idea – you've got to believe me," Seth stammered, but Kitty cut him off.

"Oh, you didn't get through that part of our database yet?" she asked sarcastically, and saw him look embarrassed.  "Well, it doesn't really matter," she added.  "What matters is that you hacked our network and lured us here so you could knock us out and lock us up.  Why?  Just who are you, Seth?"

He stared at her for a few moments, until she began moving toward one of the unfamiliar pieces of equipment.  "No, don't!  I said I'd answer your questions – just leave that alone?"

"Ok, now we're making progress," Kitty said, sitting down on the desktop Bobby had vacated.  "Start talking.  We've pretty much determined your people are mutants – what group are you with?"

"Spikes?" he asked, laughing.  "Sorry, you're way off.  The Neo aren't spikes, for whatever good that did us when your enemy attacked."

"The Neo?" Bobby asked, and Kitty was glad he'd decided to take a more active role.  She hated to admit it to herself, but she was somewhat thrown off balance by having Seth turn up here, and threatening someone she'd considered dating was making her feel somewhat awkward.  She welcomed a short break – maybe she'd be able to pull herself together.  Besides, interrogations weren't really her forte; she was doing her best to imitate Wolverine, but wasn't sure she was pulling it off.

"The Neo have been here as long as the flatscans, and far longer than you spikes," Seth answered proudly.  "We pretty much kept to ourselves; monitored you from places like this, sent a few like me out to learn more, but we never bothered anyone.  Not like you moronic spikes, who seem to be in the news every other night.  But that didn't stop that damned High Evolutionary from decimating us right along with you."

"Decimating you?" Bobby asked, glancing at Kitty then back at Seth.  "What are you talking about?  We lost our powers, yeah, but nobody died."

"Really?" Seth said incredulously.  "No water-breathing mutants caught too deep to surface when they lost their ability?  You're lucky – our leader's daughter died that way.  One of us had the ability to walk through solid matter; he materialized right inside a wall when his abilities suddenly shut off." Kitty winced, realizing that could have been her.  "Several of our elders died from the shock alone, and many of the others have just, well, shut down would be most accurate description.  They go through the motions – eat, drink, move around  - but they're not really there.  Domino thought if we could find out who launched this attack, maybe it would bring some of them around – give them some hope, a new purpose."

"We had no idea," Kitty said, shaken.  "It wasn't an attack, per se; the High Evolutionary apparently thought that if he removed the cause of mutation he'd equalize the playing field – give humanity one less thing to fight over."

"As if the flatscans have ever needed an excuse," Seth scoffed.  

"I wasn't saying I agreed with him," Kitty objected.  "But really, many mutants considered it a blessing.  You probably know from our records, but there were those who couldn't control their powers, or whose mutations have caused them nothing but pain and rejection.  They welcomed the ability to return to a 'normal' life."

"Whereas for us there is nothing normal about this life," Seth commented, shaking his head.  "We've had what you call 'powers' throughout most of our history.  Their loss has caused our way of life to crumble around us."

"We're getting off the subject here," Bobby said, and Kitty looked at him, surprised.  She'd been interested in what Seth had been saying, and would have enjoyed discussing it further.  She saw him pointed glance at his wrist where a watch would be, and realized he was right.  They couldn't assume they would remain uninterrupted indefinitely.

"Bobby's right," she said, looking at Seth.  "Fascinating though this is, we have some other questions.  Why hack our network?"

Seth shrugged.  "Henry McCoy has been an outspoken proponent of research into mutation.  It seemed like a reasonable place to start looking.  And once we realized we'd accessed the records of the infamous X-Men – well, it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up.  Given your reputations, if you weren't responsible for the attack, you were probably the ones most likely to do something about it."

Bobby tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle a laugh, and Kitty saw Seth look at him quizzically.  "They stuck their noses into our business because we have a reputation for sticking our noses into other people's business," he explained, and Kitty just shook her head, smiling.

"Probably accurate," she admitted.  "You did the hacking?" she asked Seth, and he nodded.  "Hate to admit it, but good work – I'd love to ask you some questions about how you did it," she said, but heard Bobby clear his throat, "but as my partner here points out, there are more important things to discuss.  Ok, I understand so far – you wanted info, and we had it.  Why lure us here, though?"

"Domina thought you should be tested," Seth answered, as if that explained it all.

"Domina?  You mentioned that name before.  Who is she?" Kitty asked.  "And tested for what?"

"Domina is our leader," Seth answered.  "She thought you might be useful allies, but, not knowing you, wanted to test your resourcefulness first."

"Allies?" Bobby asked, confused.  "Allies in what?"

Now Seth was the one who seemed confused.  "Against the High Evolutionary, of course.  We intend to force him to undo the damage he has done."


	15. Chapter 15

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!  Those who aren't reviewing, please do!  As Harry and Wishful could tell you – the more reviews I receive, the faster the next chapter gets up…

Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 15 

Before Bobby or Kitty could do more than open their mouths to reply to Seth's shocking statement, there was a knock at the door, and they heard a child's voice say, "Seth?  Are you in there?  Why's the door locked?"

Kitty hopped off the counter and ran forward to cover Seth's mouth, and Bobby quietly moved to the door, just in case the "visitor" had a key.  

"Seth?" he heard again.  "Come on, I **know** you're in there!  What are you doing – mooning over the picture of that flatscan from school again?"

Bobby heard Seth mumble something, and Kitty whisper, "Who is it?  And does she have a key?"  

"My sister," he whispered back.  "And no, but she knows how to pick the lock."

"Damn," Bobby thought.  He'd known things had been going far too well since they'd escaped, but had been nearly as interested in Seth's story as Kitty had.  He wondered in passing who the "flatscan" was the child mentioned, and shook his head.  Just because Kitty knew Seth didn't mean she was the one the child was referring to.

"Ok, Seth, ready or not, I'm coming in," he heard, and then heard the telltale sound of someone trying to jimmy the lock.  He looked over at Kitty, who shrugged to show she didn't have any suggestions either, then stepped back from the door, ready to grab the girl as she entered.

A moment later the door swung open, and the girl he'd last seen on the fire escape holding a can of knock-out spray walked in.  

"Seth, what're you doing?  Why was the door…" The girl stopped suddenly as she saw her old brother tied to the chair, but as she opened her mouth to scream, Bobby grabbed her and clamped his hand over her mouth.

"We're not going to hurt you," he said softly, not wanting to scare her any more than he had to.  He saw that her eyes were wide with fright as she stared at her brother, than looked at Kitty and Bobby in turn.  "We just need to talk to your brother for a while.  If I let you go, can you stay quiet and not try to run?"

Kitty started to protest, but the girl nodded, her eyes still wide.  Bobby was relieved; no matter what the child's part in this was, he was not going to deliberately frighten children, not even if it meant they were recaptured.  "Ok, then, I'll let you go in a second.  First, though, I'm going to pick you up, then we're going to walk over to the door and close it.  Good job with the lock, by the way – I couldn't have done it better myself," he added as he scooped her up and went to close and lock the door.  He felt the girl relax in his grasp, and he walked with her back toward the center of the room and set her down.  "Here you go, then – why don't you go grab a chair?" he asked, letting her go. 

"What are you doing to my brother?" she whimpered as she pulled a chair from the corner of the room and sat down.

"Nothing," Kitty reassured her quickly.  "Like Bobby said, we just need to ask him some questions."

"Hey, you're the pretty spike lady from outside!" she said, looking at Kitty more closely.  "Sorry about that – Domina said it was the only way to get you inside without hurting you.  But you were really brave, and I felt bad about it afterwards.  I'm glad you're ok."

Bobby saw Kitty rub her head, and winced.  He'd pretty much forgotten she'd been injured, and suddenly he felt he'd done the wrong thing, agreeing to stay and question Seth instead of getting her to the mansion where Hank could check her over.  He'd just decided he hadn't done such a great job of taking care of Kitty after all, when he realized she was asking the child a question.

"What's your name?" Kitty asked, one hand still over Seth's mouth.

"Cailin.  If you're asking Seth questions, why do you have your hand over his mouth so he can't talk?" she asked curiously.  "Are you ok, Seth?"

Bobby saw Kitty bend and whisper something in Seth's ear that caused him to stiffen, and she removed her hand from his mouth.

"Cailin," he said roughly, "just do whatever they say, all right?  I'm ok – we're just talking."

"Why's he tied up, then?" she asked Bobby indignantly.  

"Because we wanted to make sure he wouldn't leave until we were done asking questions.  Why were we tied up?" he answered.

"You were tied up?" she asked, surprised.  "Oh, Domina didn't tell me that.  But Seth won't leave," she added, jerking her chin towards Kitty.  "She looks like that flatscan he likes."

Bobby looked at Kitty, and saw she was blushing.  Well, no matter how Seth might feel about her, Kitty hadn't given any sign that it was reciprocated.  He grinned at her, surprised by his own reaction; maybe he was getting more self-assured after all.  Kitty must be having a positive affect on him.  

"Well, we didn't know that," he answered Cailin.  "Maybe if he answers a few more questions we'll untie him, ok?"

Cailin didn't reply, which Bobby took as assent.  He turned back to Seth, and said, "Now, what were you saying when we were interrupted?  You're planning to attack the High Evolutionary?"

"We – aren't sure," Seth admitted.  "We were still analyzing the data when you arrived.  Much though it pains me to admit it, I don't think we have the strength for a direct attack.  That's why when we discovered who you people were I persuaded Domina to consider you as allies rather than adversaries."

Kitty looked at Bobby, then shrugged.  "I don't speak for the X-Men," she admitted.  "Most of us weren't happy about losing our abilities, but some were.  Maybe we should get Domina and whoever else would be appropriate together with Jean," she said to Bobby.  "I don't think this is a decision we can make."

Bobby fought an urge to disagree considering what Seth had said and of what Kitty had told him about Logan, but then remembered Rogue and the others who had benefited from the loss of their mutant abilities.  He pictured Hank in the lab, frantically trying to find a cure for the Legacy Virus before anyone else died of it.  And finally, he thought of the problems his own "abilities" had caused him in the past, and the effect regaining them might have on his relationship with Kitty.  He decided he really didn't feel capable of making an objective decision after all, and was glad it wasn't his to make.  "You're right," he replied.  While it might pain both of them to admit it, this wasn't really something they could commit the X-Men to.  "How can we get a meeting with Domina?" he asked Seth.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Cailin interjected.  "She sent me to look for Seth.  When we don't come back, she'll come and look for him herself.  She knows this is where he usually hangs out."

"Well, I suppose we should make you presentable, then," Bobby said, bowing to the inevitable.  He bent to untie the network cables that they'd used to tie Seth to the chair.  "Can you do us a favor, though?"  He asked as he struggled with the knots.

"It depends," Seth replied, standing up and stretching once Bobby had finished.

Bobby stood up and grinned at him.  "Before she gets here, can you find us something to wear?  I'm really not dressed for a meeting."

Kitty was relieved when Cailin came back into the room carrying an armful of clothes.  She'd been reluctant to trust her when she'd offered to go and fetch them, and felt that her doubt was justified, considering the role the girl had played in their capture.  But Bobby had agreed without hesitation, and he'd been right.  Whether Cailin was just naturally curious about them, concerned about her brother, or, as Kitty suspected, developing a crush on Bobby, she'd returned quickly with clothes for both of them, and her assurances that Domina was nowhere to be seen as yet.  Kitty had spent the time while they'd waited looking over the computer equipment with Seth, while Bobby sat back and listened to their conversation.  She suspected something was bothering him, but she didn't know what – so far, things had gone pretty well, in her opinion, aside from the splitting headache she still had from hitting her head.  She probed the spot gently with her fingers, determined that it was swollen but no longer bleeding, and shrugging, turned her attention to what Cailin was saying.

"I don't know how they'll fit," she said to Bobby as she handed him half the pile.  "I raided Seth's closet, cuz you two are about the same size; I think he's a little taller, but maybe it'll be ok."

"They'll be fine," he assured her, reaching out to ruffle her hair, and Kitty saw Cailin's eyes brighten.  "Just like mine used to whenever Alistaire paid me any attention," she reminisced, smiling at Cailin as she turned and handed Kitty the other half of the pile.

"These were my cousin's," Cailin said.  "I hope you don't mind; you remind me of her, a little."

"I don't mind at all," Kitty assured her.  "Make sure you tell her thank you from me."

"I will, but I don't think she'll hear me," Cailin answered, a puzzled look on her face.

Kitty must have looked puzzled too, because Seth clarified. "Laurel had the ability to change her form.  She was playing hide and seek with her class – she was a teacher – when the attack occurred.  She's still in her tree form.  The children visit her, but we have no idea if she can hear them or not."

"Oh," Kitty replied, embarrassed.  She took the clothes behind a nearby server rack, and quickly put them on.  The style was strange to her; a long, form fitting tunic worn over leggings that seemed as thin as nylons but were much more durable; she hooked a broken finger nail in the fabric as she pulled them on, but the leggings were unharmed.  They fit perfectly, which was, unfortunately, more than Kitty could say for the shoes; apparently Laurel's feet had been longer and thinner than her own.

"Sorry about that,"  Cailin said suddenly, and Kitty jumped.  She turned to see the child peeking around the corner of the rack, giggling at Kitty's reaction.  Kitty smiled in return, and gestured that Cailin should join her.

"Thanks," the girl said, sitting down on the ground.  "Bobby told me to come over here – he wants to change his clothes.  I don't understand what the big deal is," she shrugged, "but Seth says that flats and spikes are much more…I don't remember the word he used," she admitted.

"Private?  Self-conscious?" Kitty prompted.

"Umm, no, I think it was insecure," she replied, embarrassed.  "I mean, really, what's the big deal about clothes, anyway?"

"You're wearing them," Kitty pointed out.

"Well, yeah, they're fun, and sometimes it gets cold in here – there's no heat in most of the building.  But if I wasn't, I wouldn't care, and neither would anyone else," she protested.  Most of us wear face paint, but clothes?  A lot of people don't even bother."

"What does the face paint mean?"  Kitty asked, shaking her head and wondering if the Neo were really all that secure, or if only the ones with bodies like Rogue or Jean ran around naked.  She couldn't quite picture it, herself, though she knew Ororo gave little thought to clothes, and probably wore them only because everyone expected it.  And, she knew, because she enjoyed going shopping.

"It shows what family you belong to, and what class you're in."  Kitty frowned, puzzled, and saw Cailin shake her head, as if she couldn't believe Kitty didn't understand the reference.  "Oh, you know – what type of abilities the person has determines their class.  I'm a biological," she said proudly." "I can – no, I could - accelerate or decelerate biological processes.  I figured I'd be like Seth and go to a flatscan school – a lot of people in our family do, and I wanted to be a doctor."

"That sounds like a great use of your mutation, Cailin," she answered sincerely, recalling her discussion with Bobby earlier – or was it yesterday?

"It's not a mutation – it's an ability," Cailin said irritably.  "A 'mutation' makes it sound as if there's something wrong with me.  You spikes act as if you're ashamed of what you can do.  Why do you do that?"

Kitty stopped to think about it for a second, realizing Cailin was asking because she really didn't understand.  "Well, I guess it's because for your people, it is considered normal; everybody has a special ability, right?  I think that's what your brother said."  When Cailin nodded, Kitty continued.  "For us it isn't 'normal', or at least, most people don't consider it normal.  But then, there are still relatively few of us 'spikes', and the 'flats' are afraid of us, because we can do things that they can't."

"What can you do, Kitty?" Cailin asked curiously.  

"Well, right now, I can scoop you up," she said, demonstrating while Cailin giggled, "and carry you back to your brother.  But I used to be able to walk through walls."

"Cool," Cailin said, and Kitty, true to her word, carried her out from behind the rack.

"Whoa – nice outfit," Bobby said admiringly, as Kitty and Cailin emerged from the back of the room.  

"You like?" Kitty replied, pirouetting, as Cailin giggled in her arms.

"Well, I liked the one you were wearing earlier better," Bobby answered, pretending to give it serious though, "but this one looks great too."

"Oh, you," Kitty laughed, and set Cailin down.  She came over and kissed him lightly on the cheek, then said, "You're looking pretty good, too – guess you won't have to be embarrassed when we go back after all, huh?"

"Matter of opinion," he grumbled, pulling self-consciously at his shirt.  He suspected it was supposed to be looser than it was – Seth was thinner than he was – and he was positive that the pants were supposed to be shorter.  He'd rolled them up a bit so he wouldn't step on them, and was fairly convinced that the overall effect was somewhat ludicrous.  But it was better than walking around in his underwear…which reminded him of a question he'd meant to ask.

"Hey, why'd they take our clothes anyway?" he asked Seth.  "I mean, our outer ones.  Standard procedure with prisoners, or what?"

"Umm, no, actually," Seth replied.  "They wanted to see if they were composed of those 'unstable molecules' your records keep referring to.  I did convince them to leave you your under garments, though – I know you spikes tend to be kind of –"

"Insecure?" Kitty interjected, and Bobby wondered why she and Cailin began laughing.  He saw Seth glare at Cailin, and the girls laughed louder.  Shaking his head, he decided it must be some kind of private joke.

"Sorry – straight off the rack at K-Mart," Bobby said.  Were yours?" he asked, turning to Kitty.

"Nope," she replied, shaking her head.  "But I've got some in the car, if someone's really interested."

"That would be much appreciated," Seth answered, walking forward and clasping Kitty's hands.  "Domina would be very pleased – we don't really need such things amongst ourselves, but on those rare occasions circumstances cause us to be among flats or spikes clothing made from unstable molecules would be very useful."

"Not a problem," Kitty assured him, but Bobby saw her pull her hands from his, and felt tension he didn't even realize was there drain from his body as Kitty draped her arm around his waist.  Seth was obviously interested in Kitty; he'd asked Bobby a few questions while he was changing as to the nature of their relationship.  Bobby had, he felt, given suitably vague answers; it really wasn't any of Seth's business, after all.  Besides, he hadn't been sure how to answer.  

He knew how he felt.  Kitty was unlike anyone he'd ever met – smart, beautiful, funny; everything he'd ever looked for in a girl friend.  But tempted though he was to profess his undying devotion, (in a suitably romantic location, of course – he'd been really tempted in the cell, but decided it wasn't the best place)  a little voice in his mind (which sounded suspiciously like Hank's, now that he thought of it) kept reminding that he had a tendency to jump head first into relationships that didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell (bad pun), and that he shouldn't rush things.  Another voice, which sounded more like Warren's, spoke up occasionally to point out that she couldn't possibly be interested in him.  He was getting better at telling that one to shut up, which he decided meant he was showing progress in resolving his insecurity complex.  Assuming, he admitted to himself, that hearing the voices in the first place didn't prove he'd already gone insane…

Besides, he didn't know how Kitty felt.  And how she would feel if, somehow, they did get their X-factor genes restored.  The thought was depressing.

Setting that thought aside, he had to admit that things seemed to be going well, both for their relationship and for the mission they'd taken on.  Much better than he'd expected, truth be told.  They'd found the hackers, discovered their motives, and made some prospective allies.  Kitty'd gotten all their data (fair trade, after all) and a look at some cool technology, which he knew she was thrilled about.  He'd gotten a great look at Kitty sans most of her clothing, which he was thrilled about, and an eight year old with a crush on him, which he wasn't thrilled about but which was kind of cute.  Now all they had to do was get through the meeting with Domina…

As if thinking of her name had summoned her, at that moment the door opened and a woman walked in, followed by several others who looked kind of menacing.  From her bearing, he knew immediately she had to be Domina.

"If you're ready now, I think we have some things to talk about," she said, and while Bobby and Kitty were still exchanging looks trying to decide how she'd known, she walked back out the door, clearly expecting them to follow.


	16. Chapter 16

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback.

Just a Couple of Kids, After All… 

Chapter 16

"Wanta drive?" Bobby asked Kitty, as they trekked back to the car.

"Nope, wanta sleep," she replied, rubbing her head, which had begun pounding again about halfway through their "meeting" with Domina.  She leaned heavily against his shoulder, miming sleep, and he stopped walking.

"Are you sure you should?" Bobby asked her, concerned.  "Maybe you should wait until Hank's had a chance to look at your head."

"Probably," she admitted, "but it's been hours since it happened, and the doctor there said I was ok.  I've just got this lousy headache, and I'm really wiped out.  How about you – are you ok to drive?"  She really hoped he was, because she wasn't sure SHE was…

"Not a problem," he assured her.  They reached the car, and he popped open the trunk and pulled out a twelve pack of soda.  "For emergencies," he said, and popped open the top on a can of Jolt.  "This stuff can keep you awake through anything."

Kitty wrinkled her nose.  "I can believe that – what I can't believe is that you can actually swallow it.  I tried it once during finals – that stuff is awful.  I'll take my caffeine in a more traditional form, thanks!"

"Coffee?"  Bobby asked.

"That too, but mostly Mountain Dew in large quantities.  Or Pepsi.  Or even Coke, but not that stuff."

"Acquired taste, I guess.  I drank a lot of it last year during tax season."  He walked around the car and opened her door, and Kitty gratefully climbed in.  "All set?"

"Sure," she answered, giving him a wry smile.  She settled in, putting the duffel bag they'd retrieved from the Neo on the floor by her feet, then changing her mind and adjusting it so she could rest her feet on it as Bobby got in on the driver's side.

"All right, let's go home," he said.  "Think I should call them?"

"Nah – we'll get enough heat when we get there.  More than enough, probably.  Why subject yourself to it in advance?" Kitty reasoned.

"My kind of attitude," he said approvingly.  "Never do today what you can put off 'til tomorrow."

Kitty let out a snort of appreciation, and settled down into her seat, determined to fall asleep.  Instead, her mind started replaying their meeting with Domina.

She'd been, without question, one of the most overbearing people Kitty had ever met.  She never apologized, never even seemed to feel guilty about having broken into their computer system let alone imprisoning them.  Apparently, this was all justified by her assertion that this was "a time of crisis."  She had, grudgingly, congratulated them on how quickly they had escaped the cell, commenting that she'd expected it to take spikes at least twice that long, and probably longer, and that their actions, recorded by cameras in their cell and in the hallways, had been "more than adequate" to recommend them as allies.  Amazingly, she'd seemed most impressed with them capturing and interrogating Seth.

But once Kitty had gotten past her demeanor and her half-insult compliments, she'd realized that Domina was a woman, no, a leader, who'd been pushed to her limits and past them.  Nothing in her life had prepared her or her people for their current state.  Her people turned to her for answers, and she had none to give them.  When you added in that she had lost better than half her family as a result of the High Evolutionary's actions, and that she tended to lay the blame at his feet and that of the mutant community equally, it was a sure sign of her desperation that she was willing to speak with them at all.

Kitty could now understand why Bobby had taken care of X-Factor's PR; he had a natural flair with people, and had even gotten Domina to smile a few times.  She'd been relieved to answer only the technical questions, leaving the rest to him; while she'd normally be more assertive, her adrenaline rush had run out, leaving her achey and exhausted.  Opening her eyes a bit now, she realized the sun was high in the sky, and closed them again.  No wonder she was exhausted.  Aside from the period spent unconscious last night, she'd been awake for over 36 hours, and hadn't slept much the night before.  She wondered how Bobby was managing.

In any case, there wouldn't be any sleep awaiting them at the mansion, unless Hank dragged her off to the infirmary, which was sounding more and more attractive.  Especially once they told the other X-Men to expect company the next day.

They'd tried to stall; to convince Domina to let Jean contact them and set up a time for a meeting, to get Jean on the phone and let them decide on a mutually advantageous time, but she'd refused.  They were the ones she'd tested, and they were the ones she wanted to deal with.  Finally, they'd agreed that Domina and advisors of her choosing should come to the mansion the next day, bringing with them Seth, as someone who was experienced at dealing with flats and spikes, and Domina and the others insisted on calling them.  Kitty winced at the thought of Jean's reaction, but Domina had declined to let them leave until a meeting time was set, and it wasn't like the Neo didn't know all of their secrets already.  Still, she could picture the fall-out on this.  An extended stay in the med lab was sounding more and more attractive.

She half-opened her eyes, and glanced over at Bobby to see how he was doing.  Amazingly, he didn't even look tired, which seemed totally unfair until she noticed the tell-tale circles under his eyes.  He'd been awfully quiet – well, for Bobby at least – since they'd talked with Seth, and she wondered what was bothering him.  

"You awake?" Bobby asked softly.

"Yeah, can't get to sleep.  My body wants to, but my brain is racing," she answered, yawning.

"I know what you mean," he replied.  "It wasn't what I expected."

"What wasn't?" Kitty asked drowsily.

"The whole mission.  We went, we got captured, we broke out, and we ended up serving as ambassadors of the mutant community.  No too bad, for a couple of kids," he said lightly, reaching over to put his hand on hers.

"Yeah well, we'll see what Jean has to say about that," Kitty replied, and felt her head nodding.

"Whatever," he shrugged  "She's going to be mad, we know that already.  We did good.  Umm, Kitty, I wanted to talk to you about, well – hey, are you asleep?" Bobby asked.

Kitty didn't answer.

"Shit.  That was totally unfair of you, hon – you can't go to sleep when I finally get up the nerve to talk to you," Bobby said quietly, chuckling to himself.  "Maybe this is better, though; I get a trial run.  

"I really should wake you up, I think.  No, I know I should.  I know the Neo's doctor did that thing with the light and your eyes, and said you didn't have a concussion, and I know you say you're fine, but I'll feel better once Hank confirms it.  I can't stand the thought of anything happening to you.

"You're really incredible, you know it?  I couldn't believe how you got us out of that cell.  Loved watching you do it, too, I never knew anyone who could move like that.  It seems like you can do anything you put your mind to, and yet you're so quiet about it no one notices.  You know what I mean?  No, of course you don't, you're asleep," he said, rolling his eyes up and shaking his head at his own question.  "But I know what I mean.  And I notice, even if no one else does.  Don't know how they can miss it, though.  Maybe they're just seeing what they expect to see.

"I've got lots of experience with that one.  But you know that, right?  Everyone sees Bobby Drake, class clown.  For a long time, I thought that was all there was, too.  But now – well, I'm hoping you see more than that, that there's more than that to see.  And that you like whatever that is.

"Because, well, Kitty – I think I'm falling in love with you.  No, actually, I'm pretty sure of it.  But I'm don't know if I should say anything.  I mean, I'd rather have you as a friend than not at all, and if you don't feel the same way, well – oh shit, if this is this hard to get through when you're asleep, how am I going to do it again when you're awake?"

"You don't have to Bobby," Kitty said, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

 "Huh?" Bobby jumped, nearly swerving out of his lane and narrowly missing a car in the next one.  The driver honked at him angrily, and he straightened the car out.

"I, I – oh shit," he stammered.  He wondered vaguely if there was some way to crawl in a hole in the ground while driving a car, and decided the floor might possibly be close enough if he could pull the floor mat over his head.

"Bobby?" he heard, and he glanced over at Kitty, who was smiling at him.

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm falling in love with you too."


	17. Chapter 17

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, to Derrick for the info on diagnosing concussions, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!

Just a Couple of Kids, After All…

Chapter 17

Kitty heard a voice asking her something, but it wasn't penetrating her sleep deprived brain.

"Kitty c'mon – we're here."

"Huh?"

"At the mansion?  Remember – you live there?"

"Don't wanta wake up," she mumbled, turning over and peering at Bobby through cracked open eyes.

"Ok, sleep here in the car if you want – I'm going to go find a bed," he replied, laughing.

"Me too?" she asked hopefully.

"Nah, you want to sleep in the car, remember?"

"Oh yeah," she replied, turning back over and closing her eyes again.

"Come on," Bobby said, getting out of the car.  The next thing she knew, she was being lifted out of the car and carried up the sidewalk to the front door of the mansion.

"Huh? – Bobby, what are you doing?" she asked, shaken to half-consciousness by the abrupt motion.

"Taking you to bed – you'll get a kink in your neck sleeping like that," he replied disapprovingly.

"Hmmm, you say the sweetest things," she answered, and curled against his body.  

"You're just saying that because I'm not making you walk," he replied, smiling down at her.

"Nope – I'm saying that because you're comfy," she countered, snuggling closer against him.

"Well, how often does a guy get a compliment like that?" he asked of no one in particular.  Kitty giggled but didn't reply.  "Hey, quit wiggling, I almost dropped you!" he added, as he tried to open the door one handed.  She laughed harder as he tried to grab the door knob, but after several unsuccessful attempts he finally got it open and, sticking his tongue out at her, carried her into the mansion.

He began to regret coming back immediately.

"Drake!  What the hell happened to Kit?" Logan demanded, and Bobby could tell from the way he was holding his hands that if he still had claws they'd be "snikt-ing" right at him.

"Nothing, Logan," Kitty reassured him as Bobby set her down.  "I fell asleep in the car, and he was trying to carry me in."

"Oh.  Sorry, Icicle – I'm kinda on edge today," Logan muttered.

"Not a prob," Bobby replied, shaken.  He'd known from the beginning that Kitty came complete with her own potentially-homicidal guardian, but he'd thought, given Logan's prior approval, that the guy might ask questions first and act later if at all.  Which, strictly speaking, he had, but it hadn't been quite what Bobby had in mind.

"You kids have a good time?" Logan asked distractedly.

"You could say that," Kitty replied, casting a smile at Bobby, who returned it.

"Good.  See ya both later," he answered, and began to walk out of the room.

"Hey, Logan!" Kitty called, and Bobby saw him stop and turn around.

"What, darlin'? I'm kinda busy…"

"Any idea where we can find Jean?"

"Office."

"Thanks!"

As Logan walked out of the room, Bobby turned to her.  "Are we going to go see her right away?  I really think we should get you down to the med lab…"

He saw Kitty rub at her head and wince.  "I agree.  But now we know where she is, so if we go a different way we won't have to worry about running into her, right?"

Bobby took a step back, and looked at her admiringly.  "You never cease to amaze me.  Devious, on top of everything else!  Come on, let's go see Hank."

Kitty laughed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.  Neither of them noticed the figure standing on the landing at the top of the stairs, staring down at them.

"Pray tell, Katherine, what has my seemingly careless but occasionally amusing companion been doing to you?" Hank asked, as he tsk-ed over the bump on her head.

"No, really Hank – Ouch! – it wasn't Bobby's fault.  I hit my head on a railing…" Kitty answered.

"Some time ago, to judge by appearances.  Were you rendered unconscious by the occurrence?"

"No.  Well, I don't think so – I think I was rendered unconscious first, and then hit my head, but things are kind of fuzzy," Kitty admitted.

Hank looked up at her over the top of his glasses, and shook his head.

"Well, we'd be best off to perform some diagnostics."  As Kitty began to protest, he cut her off and said, "Now, I realize that you insist there is nothing seriously wrong, but I'm sure Bobby would feel better if we had definitive data to support that assumption.  I would, as well.  A CAT scan, no pun intended, should determine with certainty the extent of your injury, while reassuring me that your drowsiness is induced by sleep deprivation rather than otherwise."

"Fine, let's get on with it, then," Kitty grumbled.  Hank hummed to himself as he began setting up the equipment.

"Ready?" he asked flippantly.  Kitty nodded, and he gestured for her to get onto the table.

"This won't hurt a bit," he assured her.

"I know that," she said, grimacing.  "I just always feel claustrophobic with that thing over my head."

"Always?" Bobby asked, confused.  He turned to Hank, as the latter started the test.  "Does she do this often?"

Hank chuckled.  "Katherine has an unfortunate propensity for practicing martial arts with Logan.  The choice of a man with an adamantium skeleton as a sparring partner has resulted in several such examinations, all fortunately negative."

Once the test had begun, Hank turned to Bobby.  "It would seem that you two spent experienced a rather eventful evening for a pair who allegedly went to enjoy the musical ambiance of a drinking establishment in New York.  Would it be of any purpose to ask you to elaborate further at this time?" he asked, trying to distract Bobby from his obvious obsession with Kitty's injury.

"After we're done with this, ok Hank?  I don't think I can concentrate," Bobby said.

"Of course, Robert."  They stood silent while the test ran its course, and Hank surreptitiously watched the emotions running across Bobby's face.  He smiled.  While he'd never considered Kitty as a potential girlfriend for Bobby, he approved wholeheartedly and hoped things would work out for them.  

"Ah, the test is complete." He helped Kitty sit up on the table, and was unsurprised when Bobby sat down on it next to her.  He was somewhat more surprised to see Kitty lean over against his shoulder and take his hand.  Apparently the attraction was mutual.  He breathed a sigh of relief, considering Bobby's history of unrequited love interests, and examined the results of the CAT scan.

"Well, while there does seem to be some subcutaneous inflammation and discoloration of the exterior dermal layer, it would appear that –"

"Cut to the chase already, Hank," Bobby said irritably.  "Is she going to be ok or not?"

"He means I've got a bump and a bruise, Bobby," Kitty said reassuringly as Hank chuckled at his friend's discomfort.

"Why didn't you just say so?" Bobby glared.

"Why, I was experiencing a – what did you call it the other day?  Oh yes, a multisyllabic attack.  I really must explore the parameters of such a condition; perhaps it would be worthy of an article in the New England Journal of Medicine."

"Which no one except you would be able to understand," Bobby replied, relief apparent in his face.

Hank shook his head.  "Robert, if it were not for presumably beneficial influence of your new companion, I fear I would have to write you off as a lost cause.  Kitty, do you think there's hope for him?"

"Oh, I think so," she replied, giving Bobby's hand a squeeze.  "Maybe not linguistically, but in other areas…"

"Hey, I think I've been insulted," Bobby grumbled.

"Let me know when you're sure," Kitty deadpanned, then turned to grin at him.

"Fight nice, children," Hank said, rolling his eyes and passing Kitty a pill and a cup of water.  "In any case…Kitty, you should be fine, given some rest and some ibuprofen.  Try to avoid reinjuring the same area, please, and take it easy for the next couple of days.  Bobby, if you don't mind me making a suggestion, you might wish to escort Ms. Pryde to her room and remain with her to ensure that her physician's orders are carried out."

"Sounds like a nice prescription, Hank, but we need to call a meeting," Kitty answered, yawning.  

Hank shook his head firmly.  Despite the lack of concussion, Kitty had experienced head trauma and was suffering from total exhaustion.  Bobby appeared to be in a similar state, and he was concerned about them both.  Whatever had happened it had certainly taken its toll on the two.  "By no means.  Kitty, I repeat, you need some rest.  Moreover, I suspect that Bobby does as well, and he won't if you don't.  If you wish to schedule a meeting, I will do so on your behalf at an appropriate time this evening, or, preferably, tomorrow morning."

"Too late," Bobby replied, shaking his head.  "This is important, Hank."  

"Perhaps, my friend, if you would be so kind as to explain the urgency, I would endeavor to obtain an earlier time slot."

Bobby and Kitty began to describe their experiences of the past 24 hours, while Hank stood by, amazed by what he was hearing.  When they finished, he shook his head.

"Let me attempt to summarize.  What I am hearing is that these people, who term themselves the Neo, have 1) invaded and downloaded our computer system, 2) lured you to their place of operations, 3) assaulted and imprisoned you both, and as a result you've invited them to lunch tomorrow?"

"Well, when you put it THAT way, it sounds like a bad thing," Bobby grumbled.  

"Come on, Hank, we explained all of that.  It's not like we invited Apocalypse here, though I think even that's happened before.  These people just want to know what we're going to do about the High Evolutionary, that's all," Kitty said irritably.

"Perhaps, Katherine, but have you considered that they may have other motivations?  You yourself indicated that they have no reason to trust mutantkind, and we certainly have no reason, given their behavior thus far, to trust them.  Why didn't you contact Jean immediately?  In fact, what made the two of you go there in the first place?" Hank demanded, realizing suddenly what could have happened to them if things had turned out badly.  Kitty's head injury, though seemingly minor, could have easily been much more serious.  Aside from exhaustion, Bobby appeared uninjured, but for the two of them to go into such a situation alone…

Seeing Kitty and Bobby's indignant faces, Hank regretted what he had said.  It wasn't so much he truly believed Bobby and Kitty had done anything wrong; in fact, he thought they had done amazingly well, under the circumstances, but he wasn't sure the other X-Men would feel the same.  He hoped they were prepared for the reaction they would likely get once the others assembled.  He took a deep breath, and continued.

"I believe you had the best intentions when you embarked on this self-assigned mission, but I think it went beyond the scope you had anticipated."

"No shit," Bobby mumbled to Kitty, who rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Nonetheless," Hank added, holding up his hand, "I think you handled the entire situation very well, at least until you issued invitations on to the mansion without discussing it with anyone."

"We told you – she wouldn't let us leave until we set a time," Kitty protested.

Hank shook his head.  "Come now, Katherine, surely she couldn't have been that unreasonable," he argued.

"Wait until you meet her, Hank, just wait," Bobby answered, holding up his hand to forestall a reply.

"Well, whatever the circumstances, I agree that a meeting will need to be held.  Perhaps I could be allowed to schedule it on your behalf?" Hank asked, and he gestured towards Kitty, who was nodding off again.  "Come on, Bobby, she needs some sleep, and so do you.  I'll brief Jean, you two go get some rest, and appear at the meeting in a more conscious state."

"Let Kurt know we're back, too, ok?" Bobby answered, surrendering to the inevitable as he stood up and helped Kitty to her feet.

"Of course, my friend.  I'm sorry about my reaction earlier," he added, laying a hand on Bobby's shoulder.  "I'm afraid I've adopted the paranoia prevalent in this environment recently, and you caught me completely off guard.  I'd suspected you were up to something, but this wasn't what I'd had in mind."

"It's ok, Hank," Bobby answered, but Hank sensed that he was irritated, at best.  "We'll talk later – gotta get the lovely lady to bed."

"Her own or yours?" Hank quipped without thinking.

"None of your business," Bobby tossed back half heartedly.  He began walking toward the door of the med lab, gesturing for a barely awake Kitty to precede him out.

"By the way, Robert my friend," Hank added, as Bobby moved to follow Kitty out the door.

"What?" Bobby asked without turning around.

"Congratulations."  

"I can't believe Hank's reaction," Bobby was saying as he and Kitty rode the elevator up to the dorms.

"Why not?" she asked sleepily.  "Actually, he reacted better than the others will."

"I know, I know – but hey, this is the Hankmeister we're talking about.  I expected him to ask how many cups to set out for tea, not read us the riot act."

"He didn't, really," Kitty said soothingly as they stepped off the elevator.  

"Well, maybe not, but it seemed like it.  Hey, here's your room – why don't you go crawl into bed, get some sleep?"

"Hank said you were supposed to get some sleep too." Kitty countered, opening her door.

Bobby bowed to the inevitable without any real difficulty.  "Alright – you win.  I'll go to bed, too, ok?"

"Just stay here?" she asked, then looked embarrassed.  He could see Lockheed, who had apparently been snoozing on her bed, raise his head and look up.

"Seriously?"  She nodded, lying down on the bed and Bobby ducked as Lockheed abruptly took off and flew out the door.  "Does your door have a lock?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" she asked, raising her eyebrows, though her eyes remained closed.  

He shook his head regretfully.  "For no interruptions," he told her, turning the lock in the doorknob.  "I don't know about you, but I'm wiped."   He looked at Kitty who had curled up on her side, her hair spread across the pillow.  "You too, I guess, and somehow I don't think you're faking it this time.  Well, this isn't quite how I pictured sleeping with you, Kit, but it's probably the best I could do now, anyway."  He removed his shoes and his jacket and, covering Kitty up with a blanket, lay down on the bed next to her.  Within moments he was sound asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, to Wishful for ongoing critique during the creative process, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!  I'm a self-admitted review junkie, and I haven't found a support group yet, so the more reviews I get the faster the next chapter will go up!

Just a Couple of Kids, After All…

Chapter 18

After what seemed like only a couple of hours, Bobby was woken abruptly from a sound sleep by an insistent pounding on the door.  Without opening his eyes, he tried to pull the pillow over his head, and became momentarily confused when it didn't move.  Opening one eye, he looked and saw the dark head still lying on it, and remembered where he was.  He smiled sleepily, slid an arm under the pillow and snuggled up against her back.  He was about to go back to sleep when the pounding started again.

"Come on, Kitty – wake up already!  You can sleep later, but you've GOT to tell me about your date with the Bobster!?"

"Huh?" Kitty said drowsily, just as Bobby identified the voice as Jubilee's and moaned.

"Just Jubes – go back to sleep," he mumbled in Kitty's ear.

"Come on Kat," Jubilee pleaded.  "If you don't tell me, Bobby'll tell Rogue, and I'll have to hear about it second hand from her, and she'll gloat 'cause she knew first."  It grew quiet for a second, and Bobby had just about decided it was safe to go back to sleep when the ranting continued.  "That's it, Kat, I'm coming in," Jubilee announced, and tried to open the door.  "Hey, it's locked!" she complained loudly. 

"Go away, Jubes, she's sleeping," Bobby yelled back.

"Bobby?  Like, what are you doing in there?  Duh, stupid question.  Never mind – I've got to tell Rogue!  Catch ya later!" she shouted, her voice receding as she ran down the hallway.  

Kitty laughed, rolling over so she could look at him.  "You DO realize what you just started, don't you?" she asked, smiling and running her hand down his face.

"Aw shit," he replied, suddenly wide awake and realizing what everyone would assume when Jubilee announced that he was answering the door in Kitty's room.  "Do you mind?" he asked seriously.

He could see Kitty fighting laughter as she shook her head.  "Not really – there's no such thing as privacy here anyway, and everyone will believe whatever they want to, regardless of what the truth may be.  Jubilee might as well get the jump on Rogue for a change – she's right, you know, Rogue does gloat."

"Tell me about it," Bobby groaned.  "You forget who went on a road trip with her.  She wasn't exactly herself at the time, mind you, but she was enough herself to fill me in on all the gossip of every X-Team I'd ever heard of, and some that I hadn't.  But enough of Rogue – how're you feeling?"

"Better, I think," Kitty answered, rubbing her hand over the bump on her head.  "Yeah, either the ibuprofen's working or the sleep helped, or both.  What time is it, anyway?"

Bobby glanced at the clock on her desk, and then looked again.  "Seven o'clock?  Shit, Hank should have woken us by now."

"What?" Kitty gasped, sitting up and blinking rapidly, then squinting at the alarm.  Bobby stared at her in fascination while she repeated this process a couple of times before asking, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I fell asleep with my contacts in again, and they're kind of stuck," she replied, shrugging, and Bobby thought she looked kind of embarrassed.  "Except they're not stuck quite where they belong, so I'm trying to get them to go there so I can focus.  If I can get my eyes to water, it usually works."  He must have been staring at her without realizing it, because she added defensively, "Well, it makes sense if you wear contacts – I don't know how to explain it any better."

"Whoa – not a big deal," he answered.  "I was just wondering what you did before?  I mean, weren't you worried about what might happen to them if you had to phase through something?"

"Yeah," she answered, laughing as she lay back down.  "I put off getting them for a couple of years because of that, until I realized I was being ridiculous.  I mean, my clothes phase with me, why not my contacts?  But I always felt kinda nervous about it anyway."

"I can understand that," Bobby answered.  "Anyway, you can take my word for it, it really is seven o'clock.  P.M., I assume.  You don't suppose we slept through the meeting or something?"

Kitty considered it for a second, then shook her head.  "I doubt it," she said.  "Hank might TRY to get them to have the meeting without us, under the circumstances, but I doubt Jean would agree.  Even if Hank had convinced them I needed to rest, they'd have come looking for you.  Besides, if they'd had the meeting Jubilee would have said something."

"If she knew about it," Bobby qualified, then shook his head.  "No, the day Jubilee doesn't find out what's happening in a meeting she isn't invited to is the day I admit to Cable that I was the one who painted his big gun hot pink with yellow flowers.  She'd know.  Do you suppose we should get up?" he asked, hoping she'd say no.  It was awfully comfortable lying here with Kitty; when she'd laid back down she'd used his arm for a pillow, and even though his arm was starting to fall asleep he didn't want her to move.  Then again – he used the arm she was lying to pull her closer and began kissing her, running his other hand through her hair as she shifted quickly from surprise to active participation.  Finally, she pulled back, breathing heavily, and collapsed heavily on her back, staring up at the ceiling.

"We really SHOULD get up, you know," she said as she turned her head to look at him, and Bobby could hear her reluctance.

You want to?" he asked, knowing the answer but wanting to hear it.  

"Never," she said, snuggling up against him.  "But we should…"

"Go ahead – I'm staying here," he said, turning to lie on his back.  

In answer, she wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Don't stick it out unless you plan to use it," he cautioned, feeling his groin tighten in response to the thought of her doing just that.

"You wish," she answered, laughing.

"You're right," he replied, pulling her over and rolling her on top of him.  He burst out laughing with surprise as she leaned forward and licked his nose.  "You little –" he broke off, wiping off his nose with his hand while she laughed.  "Oh, you know you're going to pay for that!" he said with a mischievous grin, and began tickling her, while holding onto one arm so she couldn't get away.   He flipped her onto her back for easier access and began the true assault, while she tried to ward him off with one hand while swatting with the other wherever he was tickling, laughing so hard she couldn't quite catch her breath.  

"Oh, Bobby – knock it off – come on, quit it," she gasped.

"You give up?" he asked, still on his hands and knees over her body.  He was keenly aware of her body under his, and reached up with one hand to stroke her hair.  He'd cupped her face with his hand and leaned in to kiss her when he heard her laugh.

"I didn't say that," she said, grinning, and flipped him onto his back.  Seconds later she was sitting on his chest, finding out just how ticklish HE was while he squirmed around, trying to catch her hands.

"You give?" she asked him, smiling sweetly down at him.  He nodded, and she laughed, then let go of his hands and lay down on his chest.  He wrapped his arms around her gently began rubbing her back, content for the moment just to lie there and feel the rise and fall of her chest against his as she breathed.  The tightness of his jeans increased as she shifted to get more comfortable.  He couldn't remember ever being this aroused by anyone before, and realized with regret approaching despair that, if the Neo were successful in their quest, he might never again. 

"What's wrong?" Kitty asked, pushing herself up with one arm and looking at him.  He could see he concern in her eyes as she reached up with the other and brushed his hair back off his forehead.  "You feel – I don't know, tense all of a sudden," she added with hesitation, and he mentally kicked himself, realizing she thought she'd done something wrong.

"Nothing's wrong," he assured her, putting his hand behind her head and pulling it down to where he could kiss her.  With reluctance he released her, and said, "Kitty, there's something we need to talk about…"

Just at that moment there was a knock at the door, and he heard Hank asking, "Are you two up yet?"

"What did you want to talk about?" Kitty whispered, ignoring Hank and rolling over to lie next to him.

"It'll wait," he told her, knowing it would be no easier but no harder to talk about later.  Raising his voice, he said, "We're awake, Hank.  What's up?"

"I met with Jean, and relayed to her the circumstances surrounding your recent encounter, but she nonetheless would like to speak with you both herself.  She has also asked me to inform you that the meeting you requested will take place after that discussion.  I also wished to warn you that she is NOT happy with either of you."

"Thanks, Hank," Kitty said, looking worriedly at Bobby.  "We'll be there in a bit."

"Till then, then," Hank replied, and they heard his footsteps retreat down the hall.

"We'd better get up," Bobby said with forced lightheartedness as he got to his feet.  "I've got to go grab some clothes – somehow I'm guessing we shouldn't try to fit in a shower, but I should probably change."

Kitty chuckled, looking at his clothes that not only looked slept in, which was not uncommon for him, but which actually had been slept in.  "Sorry, I don't think I have anything that would fit you," she said, her mouth still twitching.  "But you're right, I need to change too.  Meet you by the stairs in about twenty minutes?"

"It's a date," he answered with half a smile, and left.

Twenty five minutes later, Kitty was standing at the top of the stairs, drumming her fingers on the railing and waiting impatiently for Bobby.  "What is it about guys," she thought irritably, "that makes them harass women about always taking too much time to get ready, when they're the ones who are always late?"  In twenty minutes, she'd managed to wash off the worst of the dirt from the Neo's base, brush her teeth and her hair, and get dressed in some clean clothes.  Looking down, she hoped that what she'd chosen would make the right impression.

Instead of the jeans and sweatshirt she usually wore around the mansion, she'd chosen a pair of black dress pants and a dark red sweater; not fancy, but a hopefully subtle reminder that she wasn't the "kid" everyone insisted in treating her as.  She'd twisted her hair and pinned it up with a clip, as well, and dabbed on a little of her seldom used make-up, knowing she still looked a little pale.  It was as much for herself as for the other X-Men, she knew; if she dressed up a bit she always felt more confident.  Provided, of course, she didn't overdo it; whenever she "dressed up" in one of those outfits the other X-Women wore with such style she tended to feel like a little girl dressing up in her mother's clothes.  Probably looked like one too, she thought disgustedly, then blushed.  Apparently, Bobby didn't think she looked like a little girl.

She wished they'd woken up earlier, or that Hank had come a bit later.  She'd been having a lot of fun with Bobby, and had, she admitted to herself, been hoping to have a lot more.  She'd been touched by what he'd said in the car; she suspected she'd missed a little at the beginning as she HAD started to doze off, but what she'd heard had been really endearing.  She'd never in a million years expected to hear anyone say anything like that about her.  It was almost funny, she decided.  She'd finally found someone she really cared about again, and he was as insecure as she was.  She wondered, smiling to herself, how long it would have taken for him to admit he cared about her if he hadn't thought she was asleep.

He had, though, and while part of her was thrilled, the other part was apprehensive.  She really did think she might be falling in love with Bobby, and that was a cause for concern.  Despite his reassurances, she wasn't entirely convinced that it was safe for her to get close to anyone, and the thought of anything happening to Bobby made her feel physically ill.  She reminded herself that it was all superstitious nonsense, and tried to push it to the back of her mind, but some doubt lingered.

Glancing down the hallway again, she wondered what it was Bobby had wanted to talk to her about.  Something had been bothering him on and off since they'd been with the Neo, and she really hoped it wasn't anything she had done.

"Hey, sorry I'm late!" she heard, and turned to face Bobby.

She almost didn't recognize him at first.  He'd apparently taken the time to shower after all, because his hair was still damp and a bit spiky.  Gone were the jeans and t-shirt she'd seen him in so far; instead, he was wearing khaki pants and a button down black shirt.  "Well, at least I'm not the only one who's trying to make a good impression," she thought, and had to laugh at herself.  As if Jean didn't see her daily.

"You look nice," she said, and meant it.  

"You too," he countered, smiling, and she felt her face redden.  "Shall we?" he added, putting his arm out for her to take.

"Why is it I feel more apprehensive about heading into a meeting with our own leader than I did about heading off to investigating the Neo?" she asked him as she took his arm.

"Probably because we were heading into the unknown.  Unfortunately, we have a pretty good idea of what's waiting for us downstairs," he answered glumly.

"Well, whatever Jean and the others have to say, I still think we did well," Kitty reassured him as they approached the door to Jean's office.

"Famous last words," he muttered, and knocked on the door.

"They're here," Jean said, and Logan reluctantly dropped his arms to his side, backing out of her embrace.

"You want me to stick around, Jeannie?" he asked her hesitantly.  He hoped she would say yes, just so he'd be there to calm down both sides.  Inwardly, he chuckled.  Imagine him as the peacekeeper.  Somehow, both his fiancé and his "daughter" had tempers that rivaled his own.

"No, I promise Kitty will still be alive when I get done with her," Jean replied irritably. 

"Now Jeannie, just cool it.  I doubt she and Bobby went out there intentionally just to cause trouble," he growled, wondering how he could remain neutral when secretly he'd been pleased to see the kids take the initiative.  He suspected Jean was as well, and wished she'd just start finding her own leadership style rather than copying Cyke's.  

"Just send them in, all right?"

He looked at her, as she walked over to the desk and sat down, her face hard as stone.  "Your call, Red, but don't be too hard on them," he said as he opened the door.

Outside, he found Kitty and Bobby.  The kid had put his arm around her shoulders, and she had hers around his waist, and Logan thought it looked as much as if they were leaning against each other for mutual support as it did anything else.  Noting Kitty's outfit, he said, "Looking good, Darlin'.  Go on in - my business is done."

"Thanks," Kitty replied, and he gave her a half smile and a thumbs up.  Standing up straighter, she smiled over her shoulder at him as she and Bobby walked into the office.

-----------------------------------

Inside the office, Jean watched Kitty turn around, a smile still on her face, and realized Logan had made some kind of gesture of support.  She stiffened, inwardly cursing the man.  This was going to be hard enough without his interference.

On one hand, she was having a hard time being angry with them; if it hadn't been for her attitude with Kitty when she'd come to her the previous morning with news about the server hack, she would have undoubtedly been consulted before they traipsed off on a discovery mission.  And, of course, they've brought news of a potential opportunity to turn everything back to normal, which she was certainly interested in hearing more about.  

It had tipped the scales in Logan's favor, giving her hope she'd nearly lost, and she'd told Hank to wait a couple of hours before waking Bobby and Kitty.  Hank had assumed she wanted to use the time to think about the situation, or possibly to consult with others before bringing in Bobby and Kitty.  Instead, she'd immediately tracked down Logan and asked him to meet her in her office.  

Where, after an hour of some of the most passionate sex she could remember, she'd accepted his proposal.  

But as the leader of the X-Men, she couldn't ignore the possible ramifications of Bobby and Kitty's actions.  She found herself wondering what Scott would do.  There was really no doubt; they'd gone off on their own, compromised the X-Men's security, and committed the X-Men to considering a course of action that would have huge ramifications, not only to the team but to the entire mutant community.  And that was assuming the best; the Neo were complete unknowns, and this whole scenario could be a setup for a much larger plot. She knew without question what Scott would have done.

However, she wasn't Scott, so the question remained; what was SHE going to do?

As Bobby and Kitty closed the door behind them and approached her desk, she decided.

"Sit down."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"That wasn't so bad," Kitty said to Bobby as they emerged from Jean's.  She'd been prepared for much worse; Jean had pretty much just had them repeat the whole story, asking questions to get them to clarify parts that were vague, nodding a few times when they'd mentioned calling Kurt with updates.  Kitty hoped she wasn't saving up another lecture for Kurt; she'd made a comment about him knowing better.  She then gave them a lecture about not trusting the motivations of groups they weren't familiar with.  A long lecture.  But Jean seemed much more herself than she had in the past few days, and Kitty noticed a gleam in her eyes when Bobby'd recounted how they'd found themselves nearly naked in the cell.  She wondered if Jean was thinking about Genosha or some other occasion when she'd been locked up with a semi-naked man.  Maybe there was something to Bobby's idea about Jean and Logan after all…

"Nah, piece of cake," Bobby replied, yanking Kitty out of her reflections and sounding much more at ease than he had earlier.  "Did you ever get reamed out by Scott?" 

"Not that I remember," she admitted.  "How about you?"

"More times than I care to think about," he answered, shuddering.  "Believe me, you'd have remembered.  It's not that he ever yelled; he just had a knack of making you feel as if you were two years old."

"Oh, kind of like the Professor," Kitty answered, considering.

"Exactly," Bobby said, then paused.  "No, not quite - whenever the Professor bawled me out, I still got a sense that he was kind of amused.  Scott was more like a high school vice principal; made you feel as if even talking to you was a total waste of his time, because you were obviously hopeless."

Kitty laughed.  "I can picture that." She wondered absently if that's where some of Bobby's insecurity had come from.  "So, you think the worst is over?" she asked, changing the subject.

"No."  Kitty looked at him, wondering what he meant, and he shrugged.  "We've still got the meeting.  And given the way the LAST meeting went…"

"Damn," Kitty replied.  "Do you think it's too late to make a break for it?"  The sound of voices coming down and adjacent hallway answered her question even before Bobby did.

"Yes," he answered, and she saw him take a deep breath as they entered the briefing room.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Kurt Wagner sat in the corner of the nearly full briefing room, grinning.  He'd long since given up on paying attention to the actual debate, and was now having a good time trying to predict what was going to be said next, and by who.

"If we can get back to the issue at hand," Jean was saying for the seventh time.  He was quite sure it was seven; he'd been making tallies on his notebook while pretending to take notes.  It was about time for Warren to interrupt - sure enough.

"I still cannot believe the two of you went out on your own to check out these people," Warren said, pounding his fist on the table.  "Damn it, Bobby, when are you going to grow up?  That isn't the way the X-Men operate."  Kurt put another mark under the "When is Bobby going to grow up" heading, and let out a low whistle.  Twenty so far.  He considered, and decided it was probably Rogue's turn.

"Enough, Warren," Hank interjected, and Kurt shook his head.  Damn, missed that one.  "As our teammates (nice emphasis on the word, Kurt decided, nodding) have already informed you, they sought out the Neo solely in a fact-finding capacity, having duly notified a senior member of the X-Men of their plans."  Shit, Kurt thought.  It was coming back to him again.  Senior member, indeed - he wasn't that old!  He attempted to look serious as all eyes turned to him, but knew his tail would be swishing with amusement if he still had one.  He only wished Kitty and Bobby were enjoying this as much as he was.  Instead, they were sitting near the head of the table, looking as if they would rather be anywhere else.  Hmm, who would be next?  Probably Betsy; she'd been quiet for a while.

"While it's true Kurt was the leader of Excalibur, that team no longer exists." Hah!  Pegged that one!  "After my brother and Meggan got married, Kurt disbanded the team.  I hardly think that gives him the right to make decisions on behalf of the X-Men."

That required an answer, preferably from him.  "Elizabeth, it is true that I chose to disband Excalibur.  However, I fail to see how that pertains to the matter at hand.  Kitty and Bobby did not seek out my permission to visit the scene of the crime, so to speak, they asked me to stand as backup, and to notify the team if intervention was required.  Which I agreed to do, of course.  Fortunately, it did not become necessary to alert everyone, though I would have done so had I felt it necessary.  They appeared to have matters well in hand."

"Not necessary!" Piotr inserted angrily.  "Katya was drugged and injured, but it wasn't necessary to alert her teammates?"

"By the time I found that out, they were fine," Kurt attempted to answer, but was interrupted.  Shrugging, he added a mark to the category of "Piotr obsesses about Kitty's injury", noting the total was up to five.  He made a mental note to warn Bobby about Piotr's instability issues, just in case he didn't know about the Pete Wisdom incident.

"Land sakes, ya act as if she was tortured.  Your head's ok, isn't it Kitty?"  

"It's fine, Rogue, thanks," Kitty reassured her.  Surprisingly, Rogue had been the voice of reason throughout much of these proceedings, and Kurt was proud of his teammate  Considering the amount she had to lose if the Neo did manage to win the X-Men's support, he wouldn't have been surprised if she'd been on the other side of the debate.  He made another mental note not to underestimate her in the future.

"While the attack on Katherine and Robert was unfortunate, it tells us a great deal about the modus operandi of the Neo.  The whole scenario was apparently designed as a test of our resourcefulness and quick-wittedness.  Let us be grateful that our teammates were able to pass the test with top marks," Hank remarked casually, and the room became silent for a moment while everyone pondered what would have happened if they hadn't.

"Well, the whole thing would have been academic if she hadn't let the system get hacked in the first place," Warren grumbled.  Bobby jumped to his feet, but he had no sooner opened his mouth when Ororo spoke up.

"And what then would have occurred?" Ororo asked.  Kurt had been relieved to see her arrive; she'd been called back from the camp at which she was serving as counselor for the meeting.  A second former team leader with a cool head was just what this meeting needed.  As she began speaking, Kurt saw Logan speak quietly first to Kitty, then to Jubilee, and the three exited into the hallway.  He wondered briefly what was happening, then turned his attention back to Ororo.  No doubt he'd find out soon enough.  "As I understand the situation, the Neo first sought us out to determine if we, or specifically Hank, were responsible for the outbreak of the Legacy virus.  Consider, my friends, what they might have done if they had not confirmed we were not responsible.  Their leader, at least, sounds as if she is seeking someone to hold accountable for her losses, and it seems unlikely she would not have been able to determine our location on her own, given sufficient motivation.  It is, after all, rather difficult to hide all record of a mansion that is so frequently renovated."  There were a few chuckles at this, and Kurt gave a sigh of relief, hoping that the meeting was winding down.  He'd been enjoying himself, but Kitty had looked as if she had had enough; she was either going to lose her temper soon or burst into tears.  Which was nothing short of ridiculous, in his opinion, because she'd done nothing wrong.

Bobby, on the other hand, had done much of the talking, and had actually given a briefing on the situation that proved he'd paid considerably more attention to Scott than anyone had ever realized.  Kurt was agreeably surprised, especially when he came to Kitty's defense on more than one occasion.  Finally Katzchen was getting the attention she deserved.

"But what we do now?  They coming tomorrow, whether we like it or no," Remy interjected from where he was sitting between Rogue and Ororo.

"We work under the assumption that they are coming for the purpose they stated," Jean said, "and stay on guard in case they aren't."

"But if –" Piotr interjected, but Jean interrupted, holding up her hand, as Logan, Kitty and Jubilee came back into the room and took their seats.  Kurt saw Kitty whisper something to Bobby, who returned an "I told you so" look before turning his attention back to Jean.

"While I'm sure everyone would like to spend the rest of the evening deliberating this, we have a more important topic to discuss.  As we discussed, we are being visited by a delegation from the Neo tomorrow.  Thanks to Kitty, we have a great deal of data on them, but we haven't had time to examine it.  Bobby, Kitty, that will be your responsibility."  There were several loud objections, but Jean waved them down.  "They know more about the Neo than anyone here, due to their recent encounter, and have already proven they can pull more information out of a computer system than is actually stored there.  Remy, Rogue, please take a look into any additional security measures you may think necessary; the girl Kitty told us about obviously learned to pick locks from someone."  Remy chuckled and mumbled something to Rogue, who covered her mouth, stifling a laugh.  "Ororo, I'd like to meet with you after this meeting to discuss how we want to handle the Neo tomorrow."

"Can I make a suggestion?" Kitty interjected.  Kurt held his breath, but Jean merely waved for her to continue.

Kitty took a break.  "From the way they talk, they have a code of ethics not dissimilar to that of many eastern cultures.  Logan might be have some insights on how to best deal with them."

"A good point, Kitten, thank you," Ororo answered.  Kurt exhaled slowly as Jean continued, addressing Kitty and Bobby.  

"One thing – at this point, the Neo want to deal with the two of you.  I can understand that you might want to be involved with the negotiations tomorrow," there was a lot of muttering around the table at this comment, "but I think it would only confuse the issue.  So please, try and make yourselves scarce.  We really do need that data evaluated," she said placatingly, "so you'll be legitimately involved, but I would prefer you not be present."  At that, she stood up and gestured to Logan to join her at the head of the table.

"Perhaps this isn't the best time, but while we're all together, Logan and I have an announcement to make."  A sudden hush came over the room as everyone looked at Jean with anticipation.

"This will probably come as something of a surprise to everyone, but Logan and I are getting married."


	19. Chapter 19

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!  

Just a Couple of Kids, After All…

Chapter 19

"This will probably come as something of a surprise to everyone, but Logan and I are getting married," Jean announced.

The silence in the room grew even more profound, and Kitty looked around uncomfortably, trying to judge the X-Men's reactions by their faces.

Everyone looked shocked; small surprise, she'd been shocked herself when Logan pulled her and Jubilee out in the hall to tell them.  And the others didn't even know everything yet.  She reached over to grasp Bobby's hand, and he squeezed hers reassuringly.  She looked around again, and realized that the news was starting to sink in.

Rogue was leaning against Remy's shoulder with a smile on her face; trust her to be the first to welcome the news.  Remy looked almost amused; like Kitty herself, he was looking around at the others reactions and apparently finding them humorous.

Storm – well, Kitty couldn't decide what Storm was thinking.  She still looked kind of dazed.

But there was no question about Warren.  He was sitting stiffly in his chair, staring at the couple at the head of the table.  Apparently Betsy had noticed his reaction, too, because she was glaring at him.  Kitty couldn't say she blamed her.

Piotr was looking at her.  She turned her face quickly, hoping he hadn't seen her glance at him, and saw Kurt grinning at her.  She smiled back.  

"Well, that's great, Sugar!" Rogue finally said, jumping up and running over to hug them both.  "Nothin' like a wedding to liven things up!  Did y'all set a date yet?"

"Not yet," Logan replied.  

"Well, don' wait too long, Mon ami – don't want the petit fille to change her mind, no?" Remy said.  He raised Jean's hand to his lips and kissed it, much to her amusement.  "Beside, I might wan' to keep dis one myself."

"Forget it, Cajun – you're taken, remember?" Rogue joked, slapping him on the arm.

"A man can dream, no?"

"Are you planning a large wedding?" Ororo asked.  Kitty still couldn't decide how Ororo felt about the whole thing; it was almost as if she were having trouble believing it was true.

"No," Jean replied.  "We're going to keep it small – just my family and a few of our friends besides everyone here."

"Why?  I'd think you'd want to announce it to the world, Logan.  After all, you won in the end, didn't you?  Didn't take long after Scott died, either.  I'm just surprised you didn't propose at the memorial," Warren said bitterly.  

Jean opened her mouth to reply, but didn't get the opportunity as Logan dropped her hand and walked toward Warren.  "Gotta problem with it, Wings?"

"No, he doesn't," Betsy said quickly, grabbing Warren's arm and him at Warren as if daring him to contradict her.  "Congratulations, Logan," she said warmly.  And Jean," she added, nodding in her direction.  "We wish you the best, of course.  But I wonder at the timing," she added, her eyebrows raised as if waiting for an explanation.

Jean looked nervous, Kitty decided, and she had to admit to herself that she felt sorry for her.   It wasn't a question she'd want to answer in an open meeting, herself.

Kitty glanced at Jubilee, and saw her mouth the word "Now?".  After Logan had broken the news, they had quickly discussed how to defuse such a situation.  Kitty grinned and nodded. 

"Well you see, we get to throw a double shower!" Jubilee said excitedly.  "Jean's pregnant, and Wolvie promised I get first dibs at baby-sitting.  He'd better be paying, though," she added, glaring mock-seriously at Logan.  "I mean, I passed the YMCA babysitting course and everything; talent like that doesn't come cheap."

Kitty could feel Bobby laughing silently next to her, and joined in.  After an initial shocked silence, most of the X-Men were laughing as well, or shaking their heads at Jubilee's outburst.   Rogue shrieked, and picked Jean up and spun her around.  Kitty was relieved to Ororo walk up to Jean and give her congratulations, and grinned when she saw Jean wince as Betsy rubbed her stomach.  Most of the men remained where they were, though she saw Kurt clasping Logan's shoulder and shaking his hand.  She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding.  As she and Jubilee had hurriedly discussed outside, this could have easily gotten ugly, and Jubilee's outburst had diffused the tension before it could built.  She gave Jubes a thumbs up, and Jubilee bowed, accepting the accolade for her performance before turning to talk to Remy.  

"My protégé has come into her own," Bobby said at her side, and Kitty turned to him and smiled.

"Your protégé?  I thought she was Rogue's?  How many people brought up you sleeping in my room?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"Only five, not including Jubilee herself," Kurt said, joining them.  "But they mentioned it, let's see," and Kitty saw him consult his notebook, "at least eleven times.  Not a record for this meeting, but a fairly good standing."

"What IS that?" she asked, peering over at the list.  She burst out laughing.  "Oh Kurt!  I can't believe you wrote all this down!"

"Let's see," Bobby said, looking over her shoulder.  "Aww, only five sentences starting, 'If Scott were here…" – he'd be disappointed to know that.  Nice meeting minutes, Kurt."

Kurt shrugged, a self-satisfied grin forming on his face.  "Ach, well, the actual content of the meeting was covered in the first twenty minutes.  I had to have something to do for the following two hours."

"Two hours," Kitty repeated, standing up and stretching.  "I didn't think it was ever going to end.  I feel like I've been through the Spanish Inquisition."

"You NEVER expect the Spanish Inquisition," Kurt and Bobby said in chorus, and Kitty groaned.

"Great, two Monty Python fans.  Just what I need."

"Aw, I love to feel needed, Kit," Bobby quipped, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her onto his lap, and she put her arm around his neck and bent in to kiss him.  

"Must be a new feeling for you, Drake," Warren said as he walked up to them.  "I didn't think there was anyone so desperate," and he spared Kitty a glance, "that they'd actually admit to needing you for anything.  I don't know how you get away with it," he added, shaking his head in disbelief.  "If Scott were here –"

"Six!" Kurt announced, adding another checkmark to his notebook as Bobby laughed.

Kitty, however, wasn't amused.  The tension that had been building for the past few days, and which had come to a head during the meeting, finally broke to the surface and burst.  "What the hell is your problem, Warren?" she asked, standing up.  She noticed Bobby's hand on her arm, urging her to calm down, but she'd had enough.  Beyond Warren, she saw Piotr approaching and waved him off; the last thing she needed right now was "help" from him.

"My problem?  My problem is that the two of you don't seem to think through what you're doing.  You play at being X-Men when it suits you, without a thought to the repercussions –"

"Sounds more like you when you started X-Factor," Kitty interrupted.  "Put a lot of thought into that, didn't you?  'Let's pose as mutant hunters' – I had a friend DIE because you didn't think about the repercussions, did you know that Warren?  He was so afraid of what X-Factor would do to him if they found out he was a mutant that when someone jokingly threatened to call you he killed himself."  She was so angry she didn't even notice Warren's jaw drop, and wouldn't have cared if she had. 

"That wasn't my fault, Cameron Hodge set up the whole thing," Warren blustered.  "And your boyfriend there had a part in it, too."

"I'm aware of that," Kitty said.  "I also know that you were the one who sold the idea to the team, and that you were the one who bankrolled the whole thing.  Let's face it, Warren, you're ultimately the one responsible.  So don't lecture me about responsibility, and thinking things through; I only listen to advice from people I have respect for."

"As for my abilities, which you've had such a great time bashing this week, you don't know a thing about me or what I do, so I really don't care about your opinion of them.  You obviously don't know a thing about Bobby's, either, which is pretty pathetic considering how long the two of you have known each other.  And considering the way you go around saying cruel, hateful things to people, I for one am glad I don't know you better.  Are you really that much of an asshole?  Or you just so full of yourself that you don't realize how what you say and do affect other people?  You must be – whatever my faults, I've never sat next to someone I was dating and ogled an old crush who just announced he was getting married."  Kitty was so livid she barely noticed the crowd that had gathered around, and honestly couldn't care less that they were there.  She did notice Warren's face turning an interesting shade of cranberry, and knew she'd struck home at least once.  

"Finally, I don't consider myself desperate, but don't worry; I guarantee I'll NEVER be desperate enough to ask anything of you."

"I think that's about enough," Jean interjected, pushing her way through the throng.  Kitty turned to confront her, then met Logan's eyes and took a deep breath instead.  Turning to Bobby, she said, "I think it's time we got out of here."

Bobby stood up.  "I agree," he said, then turned to face Warren.  "I have just one thing to add.  Warren, there was a time we were friends, but if you say ANYTHING like that to Kitty again, you'll answer to me for it."

"Playing the tough guy now, Bobby?" Warren asked sarcastically, his face still flushed from Kitty's outburst.  "Go for it; it sounds like the little bitch would be easily impressed.

Kitty saw Piotr step toward Warren, his hands clenched in fists, but before she could even say anything to him, movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.  She gaped in astonishment as she turned and saw Bobby's fist connect with Warren's nose.

"I warned you," Bobby said, shaking his head, then turned and walked out of the room.  Kitty gave one last glance at Warren's bleeding nose and the astonished faces of the others, then rushed out after him.

Not surprisingly, she found Bobby leaning against the wall in the hallway, shaking.

"Are you ok?" she asked him, walking up and putting her arms around him.  He returned the embrace, leaning his head against hers, and she rubbed his back, unconsciously making a reassuring humming sound that had no meaning.  

"No," he replied finally, clinging to her as if she were his last link to humanity.  "Damn it, Kitty, what went wrong?  Warren and I were friends for years.  From the X-Men, to the Champions, to the New Defenders – we've been through it all together.  Not that we were ever really close, but I never thought the day would come that I'd be punching him in the face, either."  
  
"Because of me," Kitty said quietly.  She felt suddenly guilty.  She'd never meant to be responsible for the end of a long-lasting friendship.

"No, because of me," Bobby replied.  "Or because of him.  Both, I suppose," he said, shaking his head as he pulled away from her and sat down on the floor.  Kitty spared a glance toward the meeting room, from which she could still hear voices reassuring Warren that the bleeding was stopping, and sat down across from him.  She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, then bent over so she could look up at his face, which seemed to be focused on his crossed legs.

"What do you mean?" she asked.  "I mean, I know Warren's been a real prick lately, but –"

"No, it's been building for a while," he admitted.  "He can't seem to acknowledge that I'm not a fourteen year old snowman anymore.  And I brushed it off, because, well…"

"Because part of you didn't want to admit you weren't a fourteen year old snowman anymore?" Kitty guessed, though she didn't really think that was where he was heading.

"Partially," he admitted.  "And partially because I wasn't sure he wasn't right.  We were friends.  I mean, if your friends believe that's all there is to you, maybe it's true, right?"

"You know it isn't," she answered seriously.

"Yeah, well, I'm trying to convince myself of that.  But the constant sniping doesn't help.  And then when he turned on you – Kit, I know you can stick up for yourself, it's not that.  But damn it, he's got no business saying that shit about you.  And I hate to hear you catch the brunt of something aimed at me."

"It's ok," she replied, but he shook her hand off his shoulder and looked her in the eyes.

"No, it isn't.  And I guess the thing that's bothering me the most is that I don't feel the least bit bad about punching the asshole.  He had it coming."

They sat there for a few more minutes, neither of them saying anything, until they heard their teammates heading toward the door of the briefing room.  With silent agreement, they both stood up and quickly walked to the stairs that led back to the main living areas of the mansion.


	20. Chapter 20

I don't own the X-Men.  I wish I did, or at the very least I wish I owned the ones I like, but I don't.  They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, though if Marvel Comics wants to pay me, I won't refuse! 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!  I'm a self-admitted review junkie, so until I find a support group, the more you review the more I write.  Thanks to all of you who do (except Hemmlocke, with whom I WILL get even for the last one, BTW!) 

Just a Couple of Kids, After All…

Chapter 20

"Damn it, Warren, hold still!" Betsy was saying, as she pressed the Kleenex to her sometime lover's nose.  Rogue stifled a laugh; she was almost positive that Betsy was pressing harder than necessary.  She couldn't blame her; had it been Remy making a scene, she'd have provided the bloody nose herself.  As it was, she felt Warren was lucky that it had been Bobby that punched him, and not Betsy.  She wouldn't want to get into a fight with the former-ninja without her invulnerability.

"Dmn Drk – gt hm fr dis…" Warren was mumbling, and Rogue surveyed the damage.  Warren's pale blue polo shirt was liberally covered with blood, as was what she could see of his face around the soaked Kleenex.  She watched him grab the bloody tissue out of Betsy's hand, holding it out as if presenting Exhibit A to the court.

"Now do you all see what I mean?  Look at this!  I can't believe Drake –"

"Not do it sooner," Remy growled, glaring at Warren, his dark gray eyes ice cold.  "Not dat le Chat not be able to defend herself, but it be her man's prerogative, no?"

"You can't be saying you think I deserved this?" Warren asked, looking around the room for signs of support.  Rogue would have been amazed if he'd found any, but apparently he didn't, as the expression on his face changed from indignation to entreaty as he turned toward Jean.  "Jean, you can't ignore this…" he said, his voice trailing off.

"No, of course not Warren," Jean said coolly.  "On the other hand, I can't ignore the fact that you asked for it, either."

"Asked for more than that, I'd say," Logan chimed in, his hands flexing as if he were trying to force the claws out.  "You talk that way again about my Kit, and you won't have to worry about whether or not your nose is broken – you won't be breathing either way."

"I'm thinkin' we've heard enough of you bashing Bobby, too," Rogue added, more than a little annoyed that no one was sticking up for her friend.  

"I agree," Kurt inserted, and Rogue looked at him gratefully.

"Yeah," Jubilee demanded, popping her gum.  "Like, lay off the Bobster already!  What'd he ever do to you?"

"Perhaps an ill timed question," Hank whispered to Rogue as Warren thrust the Kleenex towards Jubilee in response, and she bit her lip to keep from giggling.

"Still, he has raised some valid points," Piotr said.  "Bobby's behavior has been incredibly juvenile, dragging Katya off into dangerous situations without a thought to her safety."

"On the contrary," Kurt corrected casually.  His eyes were twinkling, though from the set of his jaw Rogue suspected he was more than a little concerned about Piotr's attitude.  "The initial suggestion to investigate was Katzchen's, not Bobby's.  So I suppose it could be said that she dragged him off into dangerous situations without a thought to his safety, though I'm certain she did consider the risks before they undertook the mission."

"And how can you be so sure of that?" Betsy asked.

"Quite simply, because I made very sure she DID consider all the risks before they left," Kurt shrugged.  "Katzchen tends to be a bit impulsive these days, probably because she's convinced she needs to prove her worth to everyone.  Constantly," he added, gazing around the room.  "I believe it has slipped most of your minds that she IS four years older than she was when she was last with the X-Men.  Contrary to popular opinion, she DID grow up while she was with Excalibur."

"You raise an excellent point, Kurt," Ororo said calmly.  "Though I'm afraid I am not as confident as to her maturity as you are.  As you mentioned, she is impulsive, and her temper is obviously still not completely under control."

"And yours woulda been?" Rogue asked abruptly, having heard quite enough.  "Let's see – she's had all of five hours sleep in the last two days, got a near concussion, got captured, escaped, and got home to face a whole room fulla her teammates.  Mosta you were pouncin' on her before she even opened her mouth.  I don't recall EVER having returned from a mission to that, but I'm sure I wouldn'ta been in the best of moods if I did.  Would you?" she asked, glancing around the roomful of embarrassed faces.   "Throw in Mr. Perfect here dissin' her and Bobby ever other minute, well, I give Kit credit for takin' as long to blow as she did.  But then, I'd've probably punched ya myself, if it'd been me," she added, turning to Warren.  "I guess you can call me immature, too; after all, I'm only a couple years older than Kitty, and younger than Bobby."

"Your maturity is not being questioned, Rogue," Storm said imperiously.

"Then why's Kit's?" Rogue countered.  "I admit I don't know her all that well, haven't for a long time, but she never seemed immature to me, acts a lot older than most girls her age.  Hell, she did even at fourteen.  Why's Bobby's maturity being questioned, for that matter?"  She heard several protests, but waved them off.  "Ok, yeah, he's not gonna be voted most likely to be the next Cyclops anytime soon.  But has he ever not come through when it counted?  Shit, the guy runs his own business when he ain't around here; anyone else here doing that, who didn't inherit it from his Daddy?"

Warren opened his mouth to protest, then shut it again.  Remy raised his eyebrows at her, but she shook her head, a wry grin on her face.  Being a professional thief did not count as running a business, in her opinion.  No one else said a word for quite some time, until finally Hank spoke up.

"Rogue, all of your questions are quite valid.  You are correct in that we all, or nearly all," he corrected, nodding at Kurt, who acknowledged his correction with a nod, "tend to behave as if Bobby and Kitty are still children, undoubtedly because they essentially were when their respective teams of X-Men were established.  It is a common phenomenon, I believe, most often encountered when parents are unable to recognize that their children have grown up until long after it has occurred.  But we commit an injustice by doing so."

"Damn straight," Jubilee said, glaring at Wolverine.  "You listening to this, Wolvie?"

"I am – it just doesn't apply to you yet," he countered, then winked at her.

Hank cleared his throat, "Achem.  Well, while that may or may not be the case, it is not directly relevant to the current topic of conversation.  Warren?"

"Yeah, Hank," Warren said from the chair where he was gently probing his swollen, blood stained nose as if trying to determine whether or not it was broken.

"I believe an apology is in order."

"Ok, if Bobby comes and apologizes, I'll accept," Warren said resolutely.  "I suppose I may have gone a bit too far."

"You misunderstand me, my friend.  I believe it would be an unexpected but appropriate gesture on your part to go and apologize to them."

"Now wait just a minute, Hank!  I'M the one who got punched out…"

"Nah, he's right, Warren – you were way out of line.  At the very least y'all should apologize to Kitty for calling her names, but I'm thinkin' telling Bobby you're sorry would go a long way too," Rogue said.

"It would certainly cool the tension within the team," Jean inserted, and Rogue smiled at her gratefully.  She liked Jean – yeah, she wasn't the leader Cyke had been, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.  She just needed to find her own style, and it seemed she was doing so.  Of course, her pregnancy would limit her ability to lead in the field, but hey, Ororo or Kurt could always do that.  It wasn't like the Professor hadn't led the team for years without ever leaving the mansion.  Or at least, she admitted, without leaving the mansion often.  And those occasions when he had hadn't gone all that well; he'd been a lot less experienced at "leading" the team than his field leaders had.

"In any case, I think we've discussed this enough for tonight," Jean said, yawning broadly and taking Logan's arm.  "Come on, Ororo – we've got planning to do.  The rest of you – get some sleep.  It sounds as if you're going to need it."   Ororo joined Logan and Jean, and Rogue watched them exit the room.

Pregnant and getting married.  Rogue could hardly believe it, though she was thrilled that Logan and Jean had gotten together.  Now, if she could just relax around Remy, maybe their relationship would get somewhere, too.

The truth was, she knew, everything had just happened too fast.  After years of trying to control or to just live with her mutation, it was suddenly gone.  Everyone had expected her to be elated.  Instead, she was scared.

Years of invulnerability had made her reckless when it came to physical danger; she'd seriously burned herself several times taking pans out of the oven without hotpads, having pretty much forgotten they'd existed.  But more importantly, she couldn't get used to the idea that she could just touch anyone.  Or, more truthfully, she couldn't get used to the idea that they could touch her.

One part of her loved it – it was great to be able to shed the gloves, wear whatever she liked in public, give a friend a casual hug without worrying about the consequences.  But she still cringed inwardly whenever someone touched her, whether intentionally or no.  Part of it was just the habit of years; after having become accustomed to avoiding even the most transient touch, it was a reflex to shun them completely.  But she knew it the rest stemmed from the part of her past the Professor had blocked in her memory when she'd first joined the X-Men.  Unfortunately, she couldn't remember what, and he wasn't here to ask.  He'd told her then that she'd remember when she was ready to deal with the memories; that hadn't happened yet.  Instead, her mutant power had just been turned off, leaving her to deal with the results.  It had come too easily, and a nagging voice in her mind that she couldn't recognize kept telling her things were going to go tragically wrong.  

At least Remy understood, even if no one else did.  He hadn't pushed her for further intimacy, reminding her that he'd loved her all this time without it, and could wait until she was ready.  She smiled at the thought of the few brief kisses they'd shared thus far, but wasn't sure she was ready to go further than that.  Not yet.

But now – what if the Neo were successful?  What if she never got another opportunity?  The idea had been haunting her all evening, and she still wasn't sure how she felt about it.  On one hand, she knew her powers WERE controllable; the Professor had done it, Carol Danvers had done it.  But thus far, she hadn't.  What if she never did?

"You comin', Chere?" Gambit asked, breaking her out of her deliberations.

"Right behind ya, Cajun," she replied, and followed him out of the room.

Bobby and Kitty got off the elevator and silently walked down the hallway.  By unspoken agreement, they'd gone up to the level that housed the computer equipment, and soon found themselves outside the door.  Bobby opened it and gestured for Kitty to precede him in.

Bobby was still thinking about the altercation withWarren when Kitty broke the silence.

"Sounds like we'll be spending a lot of time in here for the next few days," she said with resignation as she picked up a stack of papers and dumped them on the table next to her.  She plopped down in a battered computer chair that might once have been brown and looked up at Bobby.

"Yeah, well, I guess it could be worse," he answered doubtfully, and then smiled as a thought occurred to him.  "At least I get to spend it I good company."

"Hmm, there is that," she answered, smiling.  Bobby walked over to her and put his left hand on the back of her chair.  Using his right to tip her chin up, he leaned in and kissed her.

"Thank you," he said as they broke apart, their faces still only inches apart.

"For what?" she asked, a puzzled expression on her face.

"For listening," he answered quietly.  "For believing in me when I can't.  And for making Warren look like a total ass in public."  The last just snuck out, but he couldn't maintain a straight face anymore; the edges of his mouth began twitching even as Kitty examined his face, trying to decide if he was serious or not.  Finally, he gave up and started laughing, gaining volume after Kitty hugged him and joined in.

"I did mean the first two," he said in a few moments, once they'd stopped laughing.  They were still only inches apart, and he could see the compassion in her eyes. 

"I know," she replied, and he felt her hand brush down his face.  "But it's really no big deal."

"It is to me," he answered, taking her hand in his own.  "Kitty, I –" he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Damn," he said, pulling away.  "Who is it?"

"Who d'ya think, Popcicle?" Jubilee answered as she opened the door.  "Am I interrupting anything – I hope?"  Bobby let out a sigh.  This was starting to become a trend.

"No – come on in, Jubes," Kitty said, gesturing to a seat.

"Thanks Kat!" she said, walking over to the chair and collapsing in it.  "Whew – I'm exhausted!  You guys really know how to liven up a meeting, you know it?"

"You didn't do too bad yourself, Sparky," Bobby said, giving her a high five.  "Am I invited to the shower, by the way?"

"Only if you're planning to wear a dress," Jubilee smirked.  "I'm SO sure – showers are for women," she continued, rolling her eyes at Kitty .  She grinned mischievously, then asked, "Unless you want him there, Kat – how about it?  Should we have him do the striptease?  Is he qualified?  Enquiring minds want to know!"

"Oh, I'd say he's qualified," Kitty answered, grinning back, and Bobby was relieved that she was giving him the benefit of the doubt.  "But you won't be seeing it anyway; Jean'll send you out of the room.  Underage, you know?"

Jubilee rolled her eyes again.  "Since when did you become a member of the establishment, Kat?  I was counting on you to back me on this one."

"It's possible," Kitty said, tapping her fingers on the table and pretending to consider it.  "But not if Bobby's performing…"

"O-K!  So we get Remy instead!  Better deal all around," Jubilee said, bouncing up and down in her chair.

"Hey, my feelings are hurt!" Bobby interjected, but Jubilee had already continued.

"I'll have to clear it with Rogue, but I doubt she'll mind; she enjoys a good show as much as the next person, she's told me about some.  Seriously, though – I came up to ask you how you felt about the whole thing, Kat.  I mean, about Wolvie and Jean."  Bobby saw her face grow solemn.

Kitty must have noticed Jubilee's change in attitude too, because she answered gently, "Logan's a big boy, Jubes – I don't think there's much we can do about it."

"But he's like, dying!  It doesn't seem like the best time to be getting married and having a kid, you know?  And why Jean?  I mean, she's always been with Scott…"

"Well, Jubes, I don't know if you know where babies come from, but the fact their having one together probably tells you something about their current relationship," Bobby said, trying to lighten the mood.  

"Cute, Bobster.  I'm like, not an X-baby, remember?  But still…" Jubilee let the thought hang, her face showing a lot of doubt.

"I know how you feel, Jubes.  Look at it this way, you and Jean at least get along," Kitty said, smiling.  "How'd you like to be me at the moment?  But seriously, if this is what they want, isn't it more important that Logan be happy?  Especially if he is dying?"

"What do you mean, if?  He told me he was," Jubilee responded, glaring at Kitty with accusation in her eyes.  "Do you know something I don't?"  
  


Kitty shook her head and smiled.  "Nope.  I just don't underestimate Logan."

"Hmm, good point.  Thanks, Kat.  And Bobby," she added as an afterthought as she stood up.  "I suppose you helped too.  You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming – hey, not until I leave the room, Bobster!" she said, as Bobby pulled a laughing Kitty out of her chair, dipped her, and began kissing her.  "I like, sooo did not need to see that!" she was muttering as she walked out the door, shaking her head.

Kitty was laughing when Bobby helped her back to her feet.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," he said sheepishly, and was relieved when he noticed that while Kitty looked a little stunned, she didn't look the least bit upset.  He was surprised by her next words, though, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"So?  Don't resist," she said, leaning in and kissing him.  And he didn't.


	21. Chapter 21

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

I've had to play with the timing and the story of Pete Wisdom's "death" a bit, as the High Evolutionary arc has (obviously) run longer in this story than the original, and history has changed as a result.

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!  

Just a Couple of Kids, After All…

Chapter 21

"We should really get to work," Kitty said sometime later, and felt Bobby's arms wrap around her tighter.  They were sitting intertwined on the floor leaning against the wall, her legs resting on his, and the idea of moving wasn't attractive to her either.

"Yeah, I know," he sighed dramatically, then yawned.  "Though I'm thinking getting some sleep would be better – aren't you tired?  It's almost midnight.

"No, I should be, but I'm really not," she admitted.  "If you're going to bed, maybe I'll get caught up on my homework.  I've still got that Russian Lit paper to do, and I'll need to get over to the lab tomorrow; they'll forgive me missing class the last couple of days, but not the lab work that goes with it."

"Probably a good idea.  Want me to start going through the data from the Neo?" Bobby asked, but she shook her head.

"It'll wait until tomorrow.  I don't think anyone's in a huge rush for it, though they should be with them coming at noon.  It's just busy work to keep us out of the way," Kitty answered, trying to hide her irritation.  Bobby must have realized that, though, because she saw him studying her face.

"You think we should have been included in the meeting," he said.

"Well, yeah.  And no.  Oh, I understand WHY Jean doesn't want us there; she needs to let Domina know who's in charge, and that it isn't us.  I can't fault her logic.  But that doesn't mean I agree with her.  And I'm pretty sure Domina won't, either."

Bobby laughed, and she looked at him, trying to figure out what she'd said that was funny.  "I'd give a lot to see the two of them go at it tomorrow when Jean explains why we're not there," he said by way of explanation.

"Not a problem, watch it from here," she answered, standing up.

"Huh?"

"Oh, there's security cameras in the large meeting room.  We can pipe the whole thing in if you want."

"Hey, I never knew there were cameras in there!" Bobby said nervously.

"Don't worry," she said, patting his hand.  "They're only turned on when there's a reason for them to be on.  The Professor wanted it that way, didn't feel there was a reason to record every meeting held there.  But we can turn them on and watch, if you'd like."

"I thought you had to go do your labs," Bobby said, mock seriously.

"Sometime before 11:00 tomorrow night," she reassured him.  "Let's face it – the interesting part will be over in the first half hour.  After that, either we'll be in the meeting or it really won't matter.  Besides, we can always record it and watch it later."

"Ok, then I'm going to bed," Bobby said, yawning again.  "Sure you don't want to join me?"

Kitty couldn't decide from his casual tone if he was serious or not, and was tempted to agree, if only to see what he'd do.  She also knew she needed to get her paper done, and that sooner or later she would need to get some more sleep.  She decided to compromise.

"I'd love to," she answered, and was rewarded by Bobby's eyes lighting up in a way that let her know he had been at least partially serious.  "Unfortunately, my Russian lit paper won't write itself…"

She though she heard him mumble something about Russian lit papers being used to ignite the contents of Warren's underwear drawer, but decided to ignore it.

"I'll see you later," she said, standing up.  "Go get some sleep; busy work or not, we're going to have a full day tomorrow."

"You too," he countered, scrambling up with a groan.  "I think I'm getting old," he said, rubbing his back and wincing.  "Don't stay up all night, ok?  Hank said you need rest, remember?"

"Yes, dad," she answered mischievously, and gave him a kiss on the check.  "See you in the morning, all right?"

"Yeah," he answered, kissing her more thoroughly, and for a moment she reconsidered her decision.  But he smiled and walked out of the room.

Kitty dug around on the table until she found her Russian lit book, then sat down at the computer she liked to use to do her homework.  Logging in, she saw she had some new mail messages in her school account, and opened her Inbox.  There were several that were readily identifiable as jokes; she moved those to the appropriate folder for later reading.  Another was from her favorite professor, asking whether or not she planned to return to his class; she quickly replied that she'd had been tied up with an emergency at her place of employment, and that she'd be back on Monday, hoping it was true.  Electromagnetic Field Applications was not a course she could afford to fail, not and maintain her standing at the university.  Scrolling through those that remained, she caught her breath when she noticed she had one from Seth.  Anxiously, she clicked on the message to open it.

To: Kpryde@nyce.edu

From: Sandrosw@nyce.edu

Re: Our recent meeting

Hi Kitty,

I didn't get a chance to speak with you after your meeting with my boss, but wanted to apologize for the part I played in the whole scenario.  I had no idea that you were involved with the group we were researching, and certainly no clue that you would be the one sent to represent your organization.  Nonetheless, I was very pleased to see you.  I only wish we could get together under better circumstances; it would seem we have a lot in common.  But maybe we can?  Think about it – I'll see you tomorrow at the meeting, I'm sure, and you can let me know then.

Yours,

Seth

Kitty bent her head and rubbed the bridge of her nose, which seemed to be the epicenter of a sudden headache.  This was just too much; after everything she'd been through in the past few days, she didn't need Seth asking her out again, especially only hours after having threatened to have him mind-reamed.  She scanned the cryptic message again, appreciating his apology for having hacked into the mansion's computer system and agreeing that they did have a lot in common.  She'd enjoyed talking with Seth about the Neo's computer system, and appreciated his candor in explaining how he had infiltrated the X-Men's.  A week ago, she might have reconsidered her earlier decision not to date him.

But that was before she'd met Bobby.

She leaned back in her chair, her Russian lit paper forgotten, and considered the situation.  Seth was nice, yeah, definitely intelligent, and not bad looking, but…Bobby stirred something inside her she hadn't felt since the early days of her relationship with Pete Wisdom.  Not that Pete and Bobby were anything alike; in fact, superficially you couldn't find two people less alike than the former Black Air agent and the practical joker.  At least, not until you looked a little deeper, and realized that both Pete's surliness and Bobby's antics were defense mechanisms hiding their real personalities.

Disturbed by this realization, Kitty considered whether or not she might be getting into another no-win relationship.  Although she'd loved him, she knew she hadn't been ready for the speed at which her relationship with Pete had advanced, nor for the depth of his feelings for her.  It had just been too much, too quick, and the insecurities D'Spayre had dug up had only escalated their problems, not caused them.

Bobby was different though, she knew.  They had more in common than she and Pete ever had; both of them had grown up in spandex, after all.  Sure, Bobby lacked self-confidence, but she suffered from a lot of that herself these days; with everyone still acting as if she was fourteen years old she'd begun to doubt it herself, and could easily understand Bobby's situation.  He was doing a good job getting past it, though.  She smiled, remembering the look on Warren's face when he'd emerged from the kitchen the other morning.  Bobby had a huge amount of potential; he just needed a little reassurance, now and then.

Much like herself, she realized, thinking about how relieved she'd felt when Bobby'd taken her hand during the meeting earlier this evening.  She'd been about to break, with Piotr whining about the danger she'd been in, as if she was a china doll who might have been broken, and Warren insinuating that they'd gone looking for trouble just to get attention.  But knowing there was someone there who believed in her had gone a long way.

Feeling reassured, she closed the message from Seth, opened her book and set it down on table in front of her, and referencing it occasionally began writing her report on 19th century Russian literature. 

Bobby woke up the way he preferred the following morning; slowly.  There was no one pounding outside his bedroom window, no one pounding on his door, no alarm blaring obnoxious commercials in his ear, and his pillow was half under his head, half under his arm, and had just the right amount of lumps in it.  He wondered briefly if he should take it with him when he left the mansion – perfect pillows were hard to come by, after all.  The idea spun around slowly in his brain, and he'd almost made up his mind to stuff it in his suitcase when he left, when he remembered the one thing that was missing from his bed, that would have made waking up slowly in the morning perfect.

Kitty.

She'd had him going for a minute last night when she accepted the proposition he'd thrown out half in jest, half as a test of the waters for future reference.  Unfortunately, he'd lost out to Russian lit, which seemed really unfair now, though it had seemed reasonable at the time.

He opened one eye, trying to judge how bright his room was before opening both, and saw another eye directly in front of his own.  Not just any eye, though – this one was attached to a purple face with a lot of sharp looking teeth.  Both his eyes popped open as he sat up abruptly and realized that there was a small purple dragon sitting on top of his perfectly lumped pillow.

"Oh, good morning, Lockheed," he said sleepily, not questioning how the dragon had gotten into his room, or why it was there.  "What's up?"  

In response, Lockheed sunk his talons into Bobby's blanket, and pulled it the rest of the way off, then switched his grip to Bobby's boxers.  

"Hey!" Bobby yelled, grabbing hold of his shorts as Lockheed nearly gave an especially hard tug.  "What're you doing?  Trying to pull them off?  Sorry – I'd be thrilled if your mistress did that, but you're not my type."  Lockheed glared at him in response, then resumed pulling.

"What?  You want me to come with you?  Why?  Is something wrong with Kit?"

Lockheed did something that Bobby interpreted as a shrug, but pulled again.

"Ok, ok, I'm coming already," Bobby said as he got out of bed and grabbed his bathrobe.  "Should I take it that you approve of me, then?  Kitty told me about you and Pete.  Somehow I'm thinking if you didn't I'd be missing some clothing, at the very least."  Bobby laughed as Lockheed made a sound that sounded a lot like "pfuii", then began tugging at Bobby's bathrobe as he tied it.

"Hey, not everyone comes with their clothing built in, you know?" he said to the dragon as he opened the door to his room and followed Lockheed out.  Unsurprisingly, the dragon led him to the door of the computer room where he hovered, glaring first at Bobby, then at the door.

"What, did Kit lock you out and you want me to intervene or something?  What's going on?"  Bobby was thoroughly confused, now, until he remembered one of Hank's odd habits when he was really busy.  "Don't tell me she slept in there last night?" he asked Lockheed, who nodded in response.

"Damn it, she promised to go to bed," Bobby grumbled while opening the door. "Oh well, at least I can carry her – with Hank I'm pretty much stuck with just waking him up, at which time he just goes back to work.  Defeats the whole purpose."  He saw Kitty then, asleep in front of her computer, her head pillowed on her arm.  Quietly, he walked up behind her, Lockheed hovering in his wake, and was trying to decide how to best pick her up when she raised her head and smiled at him.

"Hi," she said, smiling sleepily, as she brushed her hair back from her face with her hand.  He saw the crease her book had left on the side of her face and grinned, though part of him was still seething.

"You," he said between clenched teeth, "promised to go to bed when you were done."

"I did not," she replied indignantly.  "I promised to get some sleep.  I didn't say anything about where.  How'd you know, anyway?"

"Your personal assistant was waiting for me when I woke up," Bobby said, gesturing at Lockheed, who was looking anywhere but at Kitty, as if he knew he'd be in trouble.  "I don't know how he got in, but he dragged me out of bed and kept pulling until I followed him."

Kitty glared at Lockheed, who bowed his head.  "You naughty dragon!  You're not supposed to pester people when they're sleeping!"

"Now, that's not fair, Kit, he was just worried about you," Bobby interceded, not quite believing that he was standing up for a dragon who had just tried to pull of his boxers.  "And he was right – why'd you sleep in here, anyway?"

Kitty shrugged, grinning sheepishly.  "Just happened.  I finished my paper, and was just flipping through my course syllabi to see if I was behind on anything else, when the adrenaline ran out.  What time is it, anyway?"

Bobby glanced at his watch-less wrist, then peered at the time on the computer monitor.  "Ten o'clock?  Wow, we slept late!  The Neo'll be here any time now, and we haven't even looked at their data."

"Shit," Kitty replied, jumping up.  "One more thing for Warren to gripe about.  And I really, really need a shower."

"Want company?" Bobby asked hopefully, but really wasn't surprised when Kitty shook her head.

"No time, but I'll take a rain check if you're a good back washer," she said mischievously.

"The best," he said confidently, pulling her into a quick hug.  He saw her raise her eyebrows, and added, shrugging his shoulders, "I've got plenty of experience washing my own, after all."  

"Hmm, I'll have to check your credentials," she said, tugging at the belt of his bathrobe.

"Now, who said there wasn't time?" he teased as his bathrobe fell open, and he felt her hands caress his chest as she pulled it down over his shoulders.  Gently, he ran his hands down her sides, his fingers lingering briefly at her breasts before making their way down to her hips.  He felt his bathrobe fall down to rest at his elbows, and he let go of her briefly to shrug it off the rest of the way.

"I did, and there isn't, but –" Kitty's train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door.  Bobby groaned.  He wasn't sure he could handle much more of this.  

"Katya, are you there?"  Bobby saw Kitty's eyes grow wide her body tense, and wondered why.  He was certain she said her relationship with Piotr was long over; why would she care if he walked in on them now?

"Bobby – get your robe on, quick!" she whispered frantically, then said louder, "Yes, Piotr, I'm here – what did you want?"

"I was concerned; it did not look as if your bed had been slept in, and given your injuries, I was afraid something had happened to you.  May I come in?"

"No – I'd rather you didn't, I'm in the middle of something.  I'm fine.  I'll see you later, ok?"

"Are you sure you're alright?  You sound as if something is wrong.  Is there anything I can do?"  Bobby couldn't understand the edge in his voice, and heard his hand begin turning the knob.

"No, I'm fine – I'm just really busy," Kitty answered quickly.  "I'm trying to get some stuff ready for Jean for the meeting.

"Oh.  I will see you later, then."  The hand withdrew from the knob, which Bobby realized Kitty was staring at.

"Fine.  Thanks for checking, Piotr – really, I'm fine."  As Bobby heard footsteps heading away from the door, Kitty sighed with relief, the tension draining out of her body.

"What was that all about?" Bobby asked, concerned.  Kitty was shaking now, and he took her arm and helped her over to the chair she'd been sitting in earlier.  "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, it's just – look Bobby, I'll tell you about it later, ok?  Just do me a favor and avoid Piotr until we get a chance to talk, alright?"  Her eyes were clouded with fear, begging him to agree.

Bobby brushed her face with his hand.  "Just tell me one thing – you and Piotr aren't…" 

"Oh God, no!" she said, shaking her head.  "No, it's not that, it's –"

"That's fine then," Bobby said, relaxing.  "You can tell me later.  In the meantime, I'll avoid the guy; it's not like I'm likely to go looking for him, anyway.  Go catch your shower, and I'll meet you back here, ok?  Want me to grab some breakfast and bring it up?"

Kitty looked grateful for the reprieve, and Bobby wondered what was going on, but she just said, "That'd be great.  Don't forget the coffee, ok?  And if you run into Kurt, bring him along."

"Huh?" Bobby asked, more confused than ever, but he just nodded and walked out the door.  

"Bring breakfast, coffee, and Kurt, why not?  This has got to be the strangest morning of my life," he said, shaking his head.  He realized Lockheed had followed him out, and addressed him, "Do you know what this is all about?"  Lockheed nodded.  "Care to share the story?"  Lockheed just shrugged, and Bobby cast him a look of disgust.  "Figures.  Ok, clothes first, then breakfast, coffee, and Kurt.  Are you coming?"  Lockheed shook his head, and flew off toward the kitchen; apparently breakfast had a higher priority.

"Damn, even the dragon ditched me," Bobby said to himself as he got back to his room.  He pulled a pair of jeans and a t-shirt out of his suitcase, then rummaged through until he found some underwear and matching socks, which were, of course, under everything else, so he had to throw everything back in when he was done.  He almost welcomed the opportunity to vent some of his frustration on inanimate objects.

"If one more person knocks – and what was up with Piotr, anyway?" he asked of no one in particular as he pulled on his high tops.  "And what happened to Kit?  It was like she was scared to death."

"Perhaps I can cast some light on the subject," Kurt said, standing in the doorway, his hand poised as if he'd begun to knock when the door opened, and Bobby realized he'd been so distracted he probably hadn't closed it tight.

"Hope so – I'm lost," Bobby admitted, gesturing Kurt into the room.  Kurt pulled up the chair from Bobby's desk and sat down on it.  

"I hope you don't mind my coming here; I stopped by the computer lab to see Kitty, and she told me what had happened.  It's a sensitive subject with her, so I thought I'd stop by and explain so she wouldn't have to."

"I – Kurt, I've got to admit I'm more confused than I was before," Bobby said dejectedly.  "DOES she still have something going on with Piotr?  I mean, she said no, but…"

"Nein!  Kitty has no interest in Piotr whatsoever; from her perspective, they remain friends only because she feels she owes it to Illyana.  Tell me, Bobby, has Kitty mentioned Pete Wisdom at all?"

"Yeah," Bobby answered, puzzled.  "She dated him when she was with Excalibur.  I got the impression he, umm, died sometime after that?"

"Yes," Kurt answered, nodding.  "He assumed leadership of X-Force at some point; I'm not clear on the details myself, our communications with that team are strained at best.  I must give him credit; from all accounts, he made the team more effective and focused than it had ever been.  Apparently a mission they undertook just after they lost their mutant powers went tragically wrong, and Pete was killed.  But the story you need to hear took place when Kitty and Pete began dating.  You are aware of Piotr's history, I trust?"

"Well sure, I was at Illyana's funeral when he took off with Magneto, if that's what you mean," Bobby mumbled, wondering just how this all fit in to Kitty trembling in the computer room.

"Right.  But after that…" Kurt gave Bobby a brief version of the meeting between Kitty and Piotr at Muir Island, which ended with Piotr returning to the Acolytes.

"Ok, I'm with you so far," Bobby said when Kurt finished.  "But I still don't understand what this has to do with me…"

"If you'll be patient?" Kurt interjected, grinning, then sobered.  "I'm sorry, I thought it was important that you know the history so that you would understand that Kitty acted only as a friend, trying to ensure that Piotr got the medical attention he needed."

"Sounds like Kit," Bobby admitted.  "Go ahead, I'm listening."

"Well, after the destruction of Avalon, Piotr felt he had lost everything.  He trekked – oh, I have no idea how far – to find the one thing he though he had left."

"Kitty," Bobby said breathlessly.  "What happened?"

Kurt was silent for a moment, then drew in a deep breath.  "He found her.  We'd just returned from a pub, and the rest of us had gone inside.  She'd stayed outside with Wisdom for a minute, kissing, and once she'd gone inside Piotr attacked."

"What?" Bobby asked angrily.  "What the hell for?"

"He claimed," and Kurt paused, rolling his eyes, "that he thought Kitty was in danger.  In any case, he nearly killed Wisdom; had it not been for the timely arrival of Brian and Meggan, and the fact that Pete managed to fire off some hot knives at Piotr, he would have certainly been dead.  I might have been as well," he added, shrugging, "as Piotr attacked me as well when I attempted to intervene."

"Oh my God," Bobby said, as Piotr's comments and Kitty's reaction finally came together and made sense.  "So she thinks that he, that I…"

"Could be in very real danger?  Yes, that is what she thinks.  And, for what it's worth, I agree," Kurt answered solemnly.  "After witnessing his behavior at the meeting last night, I had planned to warn you anyway, but this morning's encounter scared Kitty badly.  I think you can understand why it would be difficult for her to tell you herself?  I assure you she wasn't trying to hide anything from you, it just isn't easy for her to talk about."

"I – I can understand that," Bobby said, his mind racing until he suddenly had a disturbing thought.  "But what about her?  I mean, if Piotr's crazy enough to nearly kill her boyfriend what's to stop him from hurting Kit?  Why isn't anyone doing anything about it?"

"They don't know," Kurt replied, and Bobby saw that he was no longer looking at him, but past him at the wall as if ashamed to meet his eyes.

"What do you mean, they don't know?" Bobby replied with such a wide arm sweep that he knocked the suitcase off his bed.  This story had just gone from unbelievable to ridiculous.  "Damn it, Kurt, attempted murder isn't exactly something you can keep a secret.  How the hell would you keep a secret around here, anyway?"

"It didn't happen here, it happened at Muir.  And as for why, well, we promised Piotr we wouldn't say anything about it.  He was embarrassed about the whole incident, and we wanted to be able to help him," Kurt answered disjointedly.  "Kitty agreed, albeit reluctantly, and it seemed like a good idea at the time.  When we disbanded Excalibur, it didn't seem important any more – Pete and Kitty had broken up, and Piotr seemed more himself.  Why bring up mistakes of the past?"

"You can't possibly believe that," accused Bobby.

"No, you are quite right, Herr Drake, I don't believe that!" Kurt replied angrily.  "Not any more.  But I did.  It seemed reasonable, at the time.  But listening to Piotr last night, and seeing the expression on his face when Warren insulted her; well, Bobby, all I can advise is that you are very, very careful not to be alone with Piotr.  And, if you have any influence with Kitty, convince her not to be alone with him, either."

"That's it?" Bobby asked with disbelief.  "You're afraid the guy is out of his mind, and you just tell me to keep Kit away from him?  Why the hell is he here?  Why haven't you told Jean?  Or Logan, if you're worried about Kitty?"

"Why haven't I told Jean?" Kurt sighed.   "Embarassment, I suppose; it wasn't exactly the brightest spot of Excalibur's history, but you are correct in that she must be told, and I plan to tell her after the meeting with the Neo.  Logan?  Bobby, the man is possibly my best friend, but he'd kill Piotr if he even thought he would hurt Kitty."

"He's not the only one," Bobby said, his hands forming fists.  

"I know," Kurt said.  "Which is why I told Katzchen I would tell you before you returned.  But you had better be heading back," he said, standing up and walking to the door, a grin on his face.  "Or Kat will be wondering if I scared you off.  And Katzchen frightened AND coffee-less is not something I'm willing to face in the morning."

"Thanks for the warning," Bobby answered, only partially referring to the image of Kitty suffering from caffeine-deprivation.

"The least I could do," Kurt said, shrugging, and walked out of the room.

"O-kay then," Bobby said, rubbing his head.  "Agenda for the day:  Woken by dragon?  Check.  Psychotic ex-boyfriend?  Check.  Clothes?  Check.  Coffee – damn, I need coffee!"

"Hey, you're just in time," Kitty said casually as Bobby entered the computer room carrying a tray with two plates, mugs, and a pot of coffee.  She'd been sitting at the computer, fiddling with the resolution of the image she was receiving from the camera hidden by the front door of the mansion, and hoping that Bobby would come back.  Not that she'd blame him if he didn't.

He had to be thinking the worst, given her reaction when Piotr came to the door, but she'd panicked, her mind immediately running a flashback of his confrontation with Pete at Muir.  But instead of Pete lying broken and bloody outside the Muir Island Research Facility, she saw Bobby, who didn't even possess his mutant powers to protect himself.  Despite being unable to change into steel, Piotr had a significant size and, she suspected, strength advantage on Bobby.  Part of her hadn't really expected him to return, even after Kurt had offered to explain.  But no part of her had expected what he did next.

Closing the door behind him, he set the tray down on the desk, and sat down next to her.  "I've been thinking," he said casually, taking her hand in his.  "Why don't we get out of here for a while?  I mean, after you go do your lab; I know you've got that to do.  But it's Friday; you don't have any weekend classes, do you?"  Confused, she shook her head, no, and he jumped in and continued. "Great.  How long would it take you to get your lab done, about an hour?  Do you like camping?  I know Jean's got a tent – she and Scott went a couple of times.   We could go after you finish, get away from it all for a couple of days.  Spent some time together where there aren't any interruptions," he said with raised eyebrows and a grin, but Kitty could tell both were forced, as if he were putting on an act.  

"What's this all about, Bobby?" Kitty asked, shaking her head with confusion.  "I thought we were going to watch the meeting with the Neo while we did our research.  Why do you want to go camping all of a sudden?" She looked into Bobby's eyes, and was surprised by the fear and concern she saw there.  "Bobby, what's the matter?  I can understand you being worried about Piotr, but he'll be at the meeting, he's not going to come here looking for you –"

Bobby studied her face for a few moments before answering.  "It's you I'm worried about," he said.  "Not me.

"Me?  Piotr would never hurt me, Bobby," she argued, silencing the voice inside her that insisted on reminding her she had considered the possibility before.  "It'll be ok, Bobby.  Do we have to talk about this?" she asked, turning back to the monitor.  "Come on – let's watch the meeting.  The Neo should be here soon, and you said you wanted to see Domina tie into Jean.

"Damn it, Kit, I don't care about Domina, or Jean, or the meeting," Bobby said irritably, turning her chair back around to face him.  "I care about you.  And I think we do need to talk about this.  Oh, Kurt told me what happened, and I know he's planning to talk to Jean about it after the meeting, but…"

"What?" she asked incredulously.  "He promised Piotr we'd keep quiet about it!"

"Kitty, he's worried about you," Bobby answered sharply.  "So am I.  The guy is obviously not in his right mind, and he's coming up here babbling about how your bed hasn't been slept in?  How would he know, unless he went into your room?  Most people don't do that when they're looking for someone, they knock at the door…and if it's Piotr you're worried about, maybe revealing his problem would be the best thing for him, too.  At least this fixation of his would be out in the open, and he'd be able to get some help, which he obviously needs."

"He was getting help!" she contested.  "Rory Campbell was working with him at Muir until he left, and then Moira tried, but she and Piotr don't get along all that well.  He was doing better, though…I really hate this," she admitted, resting her head on her hand and her elbow on the desk.  "All this damned drama… I can't even start a new relationship without having to worry about how a guy I almost dated at fourteen is going to react."

"So why NOT take a break from it?" Bobby asked again angrily, standing up.  "You said it yourself, you don't want to keep being a full-time X-Man even if we do get our powers back.  We could get out of here for a while –"

"Bobby, we've got responsibilities!" she yelled.  She really had no idea why she was so angry, unless the tensions of the past few days had finally caught up with her.  "Damn it, I thought you decided you were going to start taking things seriously!"

"**I'm** not taking things seriously?" he said with disbelief, turning around and pacing back and forth before turning to answer her.  "I can't believe you would say that!  Kitty, the guy nearly killed your ex-boyfriend!  Believe me, I'm taking this pretty seriously!  You're the one blowing it off.  I just thought if we left for a couple of days, until Kurt had a chance to talk with Jean –"

"We've got to do that research we promised Jean, the Neo are coming and you KNOW that Domina is going to want us in the meeting, whatever Jean says, and I've got classes, and homework, and…damn it, I HATE camping!" she finished, slamming her hand down on the desk.

"So do I!" he responded in kind, and they both stopped and stared at each other.  Finally Kitty started laughing, and was relieved when Bobby joined in.

"Why did you ask if I wanted to go, then?" Kitty asked him, still chuckling.

"It was the best I could think of on short notice," he replied sheepishly.  "Seriously, Kitty, I AM worried about this.  It's not just that I'm afraid Piotr'll kick my ass, though let's face it, he could probably do that pretty easily – IF he could catch me, which I kind of doubt.  And if he can't – well, it's not that you can't take care of yourself, but you'd make a pretty good target as the person for him to go after next."

"I know," she answered as he sat back down next to her, and reached out to brush his hair back from his face.  "I'm kind of relieved that Kurt's going to talk to Jean, actually.  I was really pissed with him when he promised Piotr he wouldn't tell the Professor.  I just – I keep picturing Pete in surgery and the look on Moira's face when I asked her if he was going to be ok, and knowing the same thing could happen to you."  Tears filled her eyes, threatening to overflow, and she closed her eyes, trying to hold them in.  A warm hand gently wiped them away, and she opened them to see Bobby's face, his eyes and smile warm, only inches from her own.

"It won't," Bobby said confidently.  She leaned forward to kiss him, but realized he was looking over her shoulder.  "Hey, they're here!" he said, and she spun her chair around just in time to see one of Domina's entourage reach out to ring the doorbell.


	22. Chapter 22

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!  

Just a Couple of Kids, After All…

Chapter 22

"Hey look! Seth and Cailin are with them," Bobby said as they peered at the Neo on the computer monitor, trying to see who had accompanied Domina to the mansion.  He was actually happy to see the little munchkin, whom he found hilarious, but his feelings about seeing Seth again were mixed; on one hand, he actually found himself kind of liking the guy, but on the other, he was concerned about his obvious interest in Kitty.  

"Why would they bring Cailin?" Kitty asked, and Bobby saw she looked honestly puzzled.  "There's another kid too, a boy," she added, pointing at the small figure on the screen as he began chasing Cailin around and between the group of five adults who had accompanied Domina.  

Bobby shrugged.  "Who knows?  I imagine we'll find out, though.  Look at it this way – it pretty much negates any fears of the Neo having ulterior motives for this meeting.  I mean, who'd bring a kid into a potentially dangerous situation?"  

"I don't know," Kitty replied.  "I can't say I'd put it past Domina, would you?  Besides, didn't X-Factor take baby Christopher everywhere with them?" she added, nudging Bobby's arm with her elbow and grinning.

"Point," Bobby admitted grudgingly, wishing he knew Excalibur's history as well as Kitty knew X-Factor's – there had to be SOMETHING incriminating there he could harass her about.  He made himself a promise to ask Kurt some leading questions once things settled down.

"But I agree," she added grudgingly.  "Domina's probably not up to anything malicious – I don't think she's that devious by nature."  Bobby raised his eyebrows, thinking of the trap they'd recently gotten caught in, and she shook her head.  "You know what I mean – if she was going to launch an attack or something, she'd probably just do it, not bring kids along to allay our suspicions and THEN attack."

"Can we get audio on this?" Bobby asked, leaning forward to turn up the speaker volume as Jean, Ororo, and Logan came out and began speaking with Domina.  He could see their mouths moving as Jean shook Domina's hand and stepped back to allow her to precede her inside, but couldn't hear anything.  Kitty slapped his hand, and he sat back down as she turned the volume back down.

"Don't fiddle – I've got I set up for the conference room.  No, you can't get audio from the camera at the front door, there's usually no point, but we'll be able to hear the meeting if you don't screw up the settings."

Bobby watched his teammates and the Neo enter the front door.  All the Neo except Seth and Cailin had their faces painted heavily with red paint in various designs, and one, a large man with a dark complexion whom he didn't recognize from the meeting he and Kitty had had with Domina, seemed to be of some importance; he walked with Domina, the others following a few steps behind.  Seth had caught Cailin and the boy by the arms, and was half-escorting, half pulling them inside while Ororo waited patiently to shut the door behind them.

"Cailin's in trouble," he said grinning, as he saw Seth bend over and say something to her and the boy, both of whom straightened up and began walking to the door under their own power, their heads bowed.

"You like her, don't you?" Kitty asked as Ororo closed the door.  With a few clicks, she switched the screen over to the conference room, and settled back to wait until the group entered.

"Cailin?  Sure, she's cute – I mean, you can't really blame her for spraying us with the knock out stuff, Domina put her up to it.  Besides, I like kids," Bobby admitted.  "How about you?"

Kitty grinned, but shook her head.  Bobby raised his eyebrows, and she laughed.  "No, I like kids – I'm just remembering the time I got stuck babysitting the X-Babies."

"Ouch," Bobby said, hoping she'd tell the whole story.  "I hope little Iceman wasn't too obnoxious – I was a pretty bratty kid, or so my mother always says."

"He wasn't there," Kitty said, reassuring him.  "No, I got Stormy, Wolvie, Rogue, Dazzler…you know, the team that "died" in Dallas," she explained with some bitterness.

"Sounds like a handful," Bobby replied, knowing better than to get Kitty going on her teammates alleged "deaths".  He laughed as Kitty buried her head in her hands.

"You have NO idea.  Both Rogue and Dazzler had crushes on Longshot and kept fighting over him, and Wolvie kept singing the song about seeing my underwear – I'd been in my nightshirt when we met up.  I was almost ready to turn them all over to Mojo just so I could get rid of them!"

"No, you weren't," Bobby said grinning.

"Ok, I wasn't, but I was tempted a few times," she admitted.

"THAT I can believe.  Hey look, they're coming in already.  I guess Jean didn't give them the grand tour.  I still can't hear them, though…"

"That's because you messed up the sound before," she replied with mock-irritation, fiddling with the volume controls.  "There, better?" she added as the sound began to filter through.

"Yup," Bobby replied, and settled in for the show, propping his feet up on the desk.  "Wish I'd brought popcorn."

"We just had breakfast!" Kitty said laughing, and slid her chair closer to his.  He put his arm around her, and was about to kiss her when Domina's voice caught his attention.

*********************

"While I appreciate your offer of a tour, Jean, I think it best we get down to business.  Where are Robert and Katherine?"  

*********************

Bobby smothered a laugh at the expression on Jean's face as she entered the range of the camera - a mixture of what he liked to call that polite "I'm putting up with a great aunt" look and outright irritation, quickly hidden.  Kitty, he noticed, didn't even try not to laugh.

"We warned her!" she said, grinning.

*********************

"Kitty and Bobby are otherwise occupied at this time," Jean replied between clenched teeth.  Logan, standing behind her, looked amused, and Bobby thought he probably was.  "Perhaps we should all have a seat?" she added, pulling up a chair at the head of the table.  "You could introduce me to the rest of your group?"

"My family.  Your records indicate you place much importance on family, just as we do, so I thought it important that that fraction of mine that remains attend the meeting as well," Domina replied, indicating the large man who had accompanied her.  With the greater resolution of the camera in the meeting room, Bobby could see that the paint on his face began at his forehead, and continued down past his cheekbones to end in a series of staggered points midway between his cheekbones and his jaw.  "Allow me to present my spouse, Jaeger of the Neo."

"An honor to meet you," Wolverine replied, bowing and Bobby saw the man Domina had referred to as Jaeger bow in response.  He wondered absently if it was his name or his title.

"Told Jean," he heard Kitty mumble, but his attention was focused on the screen.

"This is my first Advisor, Arakasi, who is also my uncle," she continued, gesturing to a man apparently in his late 60's, who bowed in the direction of Jean, Logan, and Ororo, then took a seat near the opposite end of the table from Jean.  Bobby nodded, he and Kitty had met Arakasi when they'd had their initial meeting with Domina.  His initial impression had been that the man reminded him of the Professor at his best; cool, level headed, and full of sincerity.

"I should also like you to meet my son Diego," she added, indicating the young boy who'd been chasing Cailin outside, "my niece Moran," a stocky young woman who might be attractive, Bobby's thought, but it was impossible to tell given the paint that covered nearly her whole face like a mask, "and my spouse's nephew Rax."  Bobby was less than happy to see Rax at the meeting.  He'd been obnoxious when they'd met with Domina before; constantly interrupting anyone who was talking to assert the superiority of the Neo, and object (loudly) to their dealing with "tame spikes".  Looking defiant, he walked around the table to take a seat across from Arakasi.

"And then, there are my foster children, Amarantha, Seth, and Cailin," she said, indicating the remaining three," of whom you have probably already heard from Katherine and Robert."  Of the three, Amarantha was the only one who Bobby didn't recognize, but she looked like a adult version of Cailin, her forehead painted red with a white circle that looked rather like a target.  The three took their seats as well, and Jaeger held the chair at the foot of the table for Domina, then seated himself at her left.

"We greet you," Ororo intoned, bowing formally.  "I am Ororo, co-leader of the X-Men.  Jean and Logan you have already met, but we should like to invite a few others to join us at this time."  She opened the door, and Hank, Kurt, and Moira MacTaggert entered.  

*********************

"Did you know Moira was coming?" Bobby asked Kitty.

"No," she answered, peering closer at the screen.  "She looks worse, don't you think?  Apparently the Legacy virus didn't go into remission in her case."

"Different strain," Bobby answered, with the full authority of someone who had listened to Hank ramble often.

"I guess," Kitty replied worriedly.  "I wonder if Rahne came with her?"

"We can check later," Bobby assured her confidently while trying to remember exactly what Moira and Rahne's relationship was.  Moira's adopted daughter?  Foster-daughter?  Something like that.  He turned his attention back to the screen, where Jean had just finished introducing the newly arrived X-Men.  Domina was looking perturbed, and kept glancing at the door.

*********************

"While it is a pleasure to meet you all, especially you, Dr. McCoy, I must ask again where Robert and Katherine are.  I had expected them to be in attendance," she asked finally as if she fully expected Jean to click her fingers and make them appear.

"As I said earlier, Bobby and Kitty are otherwise occupied this morning, though you'll have an opportunity to visit with them later," Jean replied.  Bobby saw Logan place his hand over hers, with which she seemed to be trying to claw the table.

"I find this unacceptable," Domina contested loudly, slamming her fist on the table.  "You insult the Neo!  They were the ones we tested and found worthy of alliance.  You," she added scathingly, sweeping her hand in a gesture that included all the X-Men remaining in the room, "are unknown to us; we have only their word that you will make acceptable allies."

Logan stood up.  "Bobby and Kitty don't need to be here; they got stuff of their own to get done.  Everyone fills their own role; as leader of your people, I'm sure you can appreciate that.  Kitty and Bobby are junior members of the team; heck, Bobby's not even a full time X-Men anymore, and Kit's mostly a college student these days.  The fact that they were the ones you happened to meet up with first isn't important.  They aren't in a position to negotiate an alliance between our groups.  They weren't supposed to have even made first contact, though we're glad they did, of course, as WE," he said, gesturing around the room to include everyone, "can now go ahead and discuss an alliance that could benefit everyone.  The leaders and senior members of the X-Men are here.  You want to talk?  Let's talk."

****************

"Nice speech, Logan," Kitty said approvingly.

"I thought you wanted to be down there," Bobby asked her.

"Don't get me wrong, I do," she answered.  "But if they'd have given in at this point, Domina would have thought they were pushovers.  Now he's got her cornered; she either has to accept his terms, or come out and say the leaders of the X-Men aren't worth talking to.  If she does that, she'll lose any chance of an alliance, so she won't.  He can always graciously bring us into the meeting later, as a 'favor', or to provide information.  Which we'd better start analyzing, by the way."  Bobby realized suddenly that Kitty had been typing while the Neo had been being introduced; peering past her at another screen, he saw that she had brought up profiles on each of the Neo present, and was cutting the info into another document, no doubt  meant to be a summary of the attendees.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked grudgingly, unwilling to miss any of the drama currently unfolding.

"Nothing right now," she assured him.  "Watch the proceedings, and if I get distracted, let me know if anything important is happening.  Keep an eye on Arakasi; I really want to know just how much he's advising Domina, and whether or not she's taking his advice."

"Why?" Bobby asked curiously.

"It'll tell me just which side of the issue he's on," she told him.  "Is he pro-alliance, or against?  I couldn't decide based on our meeting with Domina."

"Ok, no problem," he assured her, and turned his focus back to the screen.

*********************

Domina was sitting at the table, her arms crossed in front of her, apparently realizing that she'd lost ground and being unhappy about it.  Bobby scanned the other faces, but didn't know them well enough to read their opinions; with the exception of the children, who seemed to be making faces at each other across the table, the Neo's faces were expressionless, waiting to see how their leader would respond.  Finally, she took a breath and addressed Logan.

"While it is true that each has his or her own place, it is also customary among my people to honor the wishes of a guest.  However, I can also understand that other tasks may press as well.  I hope we will have the pleasure of Robert and Katherine's presence at a later time?"  Jean nodded her assent, and Bobby saw Domina appear to relax.  "Then, if I could make a request of you?  Is there somewhere about a place where my son and younger foster daughter might be allowed stay for the rest of the meeting?  Despite their assurances when they begged to be included, it would appear they do not yet have the patience to conduct themselves properly," she added, glaring at the two, who tried to look properly chastened.  "I assure you that they will cause no trouble; perhaps if you have a library they could visit for the duration…"

"We can do better than that," Jean assured her, smiling.  "My fiancé's foster daughter is also visiting, and I'm sure she would be willing to give Diego and Cailin a tour of the facilities.  "Here, let me call her."  Jean pressed the intercom button on the unit built into the conference table, and said, "Jubilee?  Could you join us in the conference room for a minute?"  Bobby couldn't hear Jubilee's response, but he saw Kurt chuckle and Hank shake his head.  

Logan shrugged his shoulders, and said, "I guess kids'll be kids, no matter whose.  She'll be here in a couple of minutes, no matter what she says."

*************************

"What DID she say?" Bobby asked Kitty, who was chuckling as she typed.

"Something to the effect of how if she wasn't senior enough to attend the meeting, they didn't need her there now that she was in the pool."

Bobby laughed.  "Yeah right, like she'll miss a chance to pop in on the meeting.  I'm surprised she isn't outside the door trying to hear what's going on."

Kitty raised her eyebrows, grinning.  "She was – I could tell from where the reply came from.  But I'm guessing she'll go hop in the pool just to make it look authentic when she shows up dripping wet."

**************************

"Good," Domina replied seriously.  "Perhaps we can get move ahead to important matters?  What do you plan to do about the attack by this so-called High Evolutionary?"

"We have not made any plans to date," Ororo replied.  "Opinions regarding what you term 'the attack' have been mixed amongst the mutant community; many have benefited from the loss of their abilities, though there are those who, like myself, would welcome their return.  I spent what seemed a lifetime without my powers due to an 'accident'; doing so again by someone's design is not something I find myself enjoying.  While we have decided upon no actual course of action, we are interested in hearing what you have in mind.  Perhaps we can discern a solution that will satisfy all involved."

"What is it with you spikes?" Rax demanded.  "You had abilities almost equal to our own, and you 'welcome' their loss?  Are you crazy?  The only one of you who has the right idea is that one who calls himself Magneto, and even he's taking this sitting down!"  

Jean opened her mouth to object, but Jaeger had already stood up and addressed Rax.  "You were TOLD that if you wished to attend this meeting you would keep your opinions to yourself.  Insulting potential allies is not only foolish, but dangerous, and it shames the Neo.  Have you learned nothing from studying with me?  You will never be Jaeger in your own right if you continue to act like a spoiled child.  Now, be silent until you are addressed, or you will join the children when they leave the meeting.  I apologize for my nephew," he added, addressing the X-men.  "He has not yet learned when to speak and when to be silent.  Please continue," he added, sitting back down.  Rax, Bobby saw, was glaring at his uncle, though he did remain silent.

***********************

"That kid's a real pain," Kitty said, turning to Bobby.  "Any reaction from Arakasi?"

"Not so as you'd notice," Bobby answered, wishing he'd paid more attention, but he'd been enjoying Rax getting told off.  "Kind of embarrassed, but whether about what Rax said or just that he said it I'm not sure.  Did you catch what that Jaeger guy said?  Sounds like the position is at least somewhat hereditary."

"Or he was training his nephew to succeed him," Kitty clarified.

"At least we know for sure that it is a title, now," Bobby answered.

"Oh, I knew that," she replied, turning back to the computer she was working at while Bobby thought irritably that it would have been nice if she'd filled him in.  "He's their 'war leader'.  I found a reference when I was looking up the meeting attendees.  'Domina' is a title as well, it means 'leader of the people'.  There appears to be one Domina leading each group of the Neo, but one – I'm guessing the one who's here, though I'm still trying to determine that – can speak for all the groups."

"How many groups of the Neo are there?" Bobby wondered aloud.  "And who are they fighting that they need a war leader, anyway?"

"About fifteen, scattered around the world," Kitty answered.  "But I don't know who they're fighting, unless it's amongst each other.  I haven't found that yet.  Maybe it's honorary?"

"Doesn't sound like it," he said, shaking his head.  "The idea of Rax holding a position of war-anything is pretty scary, though.  Now shhh, it's getting interesting again."

***************************

"Apology accepted," Storm replied coolly.  "But perhaps, as you say, we should focus on the topic at hand.  While we had not, as yet, made any determination regarding whether or not action should be taken, we have been gathering information.  He appears to be acting on his own, with the best of intentions.  Among mutants, there have been no fatalities directly resulting from his actions..."

"You are fortunate, then," Domina replied.  "Among the Neo, the immediate death toll was approximately 25%, and it continues to increase as those among us who have lost everyone lose their will to live as well."

"So Bobby and Kitty told us," Jean said sadly, "and we mourn your losses with you.  We can only assume that the High Evolutionary didn't even know about your people; all information we've gathered indicates that he was not trying to hurt anyone, which of course does not excuse his actions.  Planned or no, he is responsible for those deaths.  But the number of deaths among mutants is mounting as well, as various groups, including, unfortunately, some working for world governments, take it upon themselves to hunt down former known mutants.  We ourselves were recently attacked by the Friends of Humanity, though fortunately we suffered no fatalities, only significant property damage."  She sighed, "Apparently even the knowledge that we 'had' been mutants is enough reason for some to hate and fear us."

"What can you expect?" Arakasi asked quietly, and all eyes at the table turned to him.  "While I disagree with the actions of these extremists, you spikes, or mutants as you call yourselves, have brought much of this on yourselves."

"What'dya mean?" Logan asked in a gravely voice Bobby recognized as Logan ready to 'snikt'.  "The X-Men have always acted to protect humans.  Are you saying that's wrong?"

"No.  And yes," the elderly man replied.  "You call them 'humans'.  What, then, are you?  We Neo are apart from humanity; we live among you at times, but for the most part keep to ourselves.  But we are not 'human', and freely admit it.  But you mutants; exceptional children born of human parents are human nonetheless, are they not?  You set yourselves as something apart, as we do, but you are not, and they know it.  You move among them, but are not 'of' them.  It is this ambivalence, as well as their fear of the unknown, that causes them to persecute you."

"What, then, do you suggest?" Hank replied.  "Are mutants to separate themselves from the rest of humanity, as Magneto advocates?  Personally, despite my outward appearance when possessed of my accustomed though unusual form, I have always considered myself human, first and foremost.  I find Magneto's offer of asylum in Genosha unpalatable, despite the negative attention the self-inflicted advancement of my physical mutation attracted."

"And yet, even now, you mutants huddle together," Domina pointed out.  "Why are you not out among the humanity you claim to embrace, now that they would be unable to recognize you as a mutant?"

"It is a valid question, Domina," Kurt answered, "and one I have often asked myself.  Now, of course, many of us have gathered to hear what you have to say, but there are those among us who did leave to pursue normal lives, Ororo," he said, gesturing toward her, "among them.  I myself am studying for the priesthood, though I acknowledge that my studies may end abruptly if my mutant abilities and appearance return.  But each of us, undoubtedly, has their own reasons for remaining here; Hank his research, Jean because it is her home, myself – well, in all probability it is sheer laziness on my part," he admitted, shrugging, and threw Domina a smile that showed Bobby why the women always seemed to find Kurt so charming, even in his natural form.  "I hate packing and moving, only to pack again and move back if things revert to normal."

Domina spared him a smile in return.  "Yes, moving can be a trial, as can the change of that to which you have become accustomed.  You mention things returning to normal?  Have you reason to believe that they will, without action on anyone's part?"

"Not really," Kurt admitted.  "But then, if there is one thing I have become accustomed to during my tenure with various X-Teams, is that you should always be prepared for the unexpected."

"True in any context," Jaeger said.  "But there was nothing that could have prepared our people for this.  Unlike you - based solely on what I've been hearing here, as I do not know your people well – our people consider their abilities to be part of themselves.  Our society incorporates that reality, and the use of our abilities is as natural to us as breathing is to you.  Without them – well, imagine yourselves without that ability to breathe.  Everything we are requires that this scenario end, at whatever cost."

"At whatever cost?" Moira inquired wryly.  "I dinnae know that I agree with that.  Have ye heard of the Legacy Virus?  I'm suspecting that ye're not susceptible, but hundreds who would've died have gone into remission, and I'm hoping they stay that way until we find a way to spread the cure."

"Spread the cure?" Jean asked amidst the surprised gasps of the other X-men, though Hank, Bobby saw, did not look the least surprised.  If anything, he looked – concerned?  That was a strange reaction.

"You mean, you have FOUND a cure for the virus?" Storm asked Hank, who glared at Moira and cleared his throat.

"Well, umm, yes, we have indeed discovered a way to ameliorate the symptomology of the primary strain of the Legacy virus," Hank replied grudgingly.

*******************************

"Did you know about this?" Kitty asked Bobby, rolling her chair over to where she could better see the meeting progress.

"No," he admitted.  Kitty's face showed her disbelief.  "Come on – Hank's just my best friend, you think he tells me anything?  This is the first I'm hearing about it.  Come to think of it, though, he didn't seem as concerned about the Legacy Virus data being swiped as he would have otherwise, did he?"

Kitty shook her head.  "Well, at least it seems as if no one else knew, either.  I wonder why?" but Jean was already asking the same question.

*******************************

"Why is this the first we're hearing about this?" Jean asked, the Neo temporarily forgotten.  Apparently, given the looks Hank and Moira were receiving from the other assembled X-Men, the same question was on everyone else's mind as well.

"Because the cure's nae worth a thing without a vector to spread it," Moira replied heatedly.  "An' the only vector our analyses have determined that will work is totally unusable.  We've got to have the time t'find another before you go off half cocked and turn the X-factor gene back on."

"Talk English, Moira," Logan replied.  "Do you mean you've got a cure, but no way to spread it, or what?"

"That would be a concise if somewhat inadequate description of our dilemma," Hank replied.  "To be more accurate, we have discovered the method by which Stryfe intended the cure to be distributed, but are unwilling to employ it, and are thus seeking another."

The X-Men began to mutter amongst themselves, and Jean stood up.  Looking pointedly at Hank and Moira, she asked, "I don't understand this.  What is the cure?  And why are you so reluctant to use it, if it means saving hundreds of lives?"

"Jean, please consider the rather warped sense of humor of the clone of the son of your clone," Hank said.  "Hmmm, that is an interesting relationship – I never considered it in that light before," he pondered.  "In any case," he continued rapidly as he fell victim to Jean's intensified glare, "the virus was initially spread when the first person activated their mutant ability and died, correct?"

"As I understand it," Jean replied heatedly.  "What does that – oh!" she stopped as the ramifications occurred to her.

"Ye've got it in one, Jean," Moira said.  "The cure is intended to be spread the same way; when the person injected with the anti-virus activates their mutant ability and dies."

**********************

Both rooms suddenly went silent while the X-Men in each considered what Moira had just said.  Bobby slid his arm around Kitty's shoulders, suddenly needing the reassurance of physical contact.  They both knew that it would likely be one of the X-Men to make the sacrifice if it proved to be necessary.

Finally the silence was broken in the conference room.

***********************

"Hey guys, I'm he-re!" Jubilee announced as she thrust the door open.  Her hair was dripping wet, and she was wearing a two piece swimsuit in her favorite electric yellow with a towel wrapped around her waist.  "Oh, are you having a meeting?" she asked innocently as if she hadn't mentioned it over the intercom.  "I completely forgot!  Hi, I'm Jubilee," she added, addressing Seth, who happened to be the nearest Neo to the door, and stretched out her hand.

"Seth," he replied, his eyes wide behind his glasses.  He took her hand, but instead of shaking it, brought it to his lips.  "It's a pleasure to meet you," he added.

"You too.  Kitty didn't tell me the guy she tied up was so cute."

******************************

 "I'm going to kill her," Kitty announced, burying her head in her hands.  "Bobby, I don't care if she's your protégé or not, I'm going to kill her."

"Why, do YOU think he's cute?" Bobby joked, welcoming the respite from Moira's announcement, and admittedly curious as to what Kitty's response would be.  

"I don't know, I mean, I guess, but – damn it, I've got to sit through class with that guy next week!"

Still laughing, Bobby turned his attention back to the monitor to see what Jubes would do to embarrass Kitty next.

******************************

"Jubilee…" Logan growled, and Jubilee, rolling her eyes, took back her hand and turned toward him.

"Hey Wolvie, what's up?" she asked, pretending complete innocence.

"Got a job for you, kid.  Remember when ya said you'd be the perfect sitter?  Here's your chance to prove it.  Take these two," he indicated Diego and Cailin, "and give 'em the grand tour of the grounds.  Take 'em swimming, if they want to go.  Return them still intact in about two hours, and we'll talk 'bout that babysitting job.  Sound ok to you?" he asked Domina.

"In view of recent circumstances, I believe Diego would prefer not to go swimming, but otherwise it sounds acceptable," Domina said.

*******************************

Bobby noticed that the boy's face had gone pale.  He remembered what Seth had said about Domina's daughter drowning when her powers had been turned off, and suddenly felt ill.  He turned to Kitty, and realized she'd just had the same thought.

"That poor boy," she said, staring at his face as it began to regain color.  "You know, Bobby, we were really lucky.  I keep thinking about that guy Seth mentioned, who materialized inside a wall.  That could have been me."

For once, Bobby Drake found himself without anything to say.  He settled for giving Kitty a half-hug with the arm still around her shoulders instead.

********************************

"Ok then munchkins, let's make tracks," Jubilee said, gesturing toward the door.  "You want to come too?" she asked Seth hopefully, and pretended to pout when he shook his head.

"I'd like nothing better, but unfortunately we have much to do here.  Perhaps another time?"

"Any time you'd like!" she answered.  "Come on, kids, let's go pull a prank on Bobby…" she was saying as they went out the door.  He heard Cailin's faint "Cool!" as the door closed behind her.  

************************

Kitty laughed and patted him on the back as he groaned loudly.

"Your turn," she said.

************************

After Jubilee left the room, there was another brief silence, as if no one quite knew where to pick up.  Finally, Seth's sister spoke.

"Your daughter is lovely," she said to Logan.  

"Foster daughter, but yeah, she's a cute kid," he replied proudly.  "Smarter than she lets on, too."

"So I'd assumed," Jaeger replied.  "She WILL watch the children, won't she?  They have something of a tendency to get into trouble…"

Logan laughed.  "So does she.  Don't worry, she'll keep them in line.  Maybe she'll get an idea on what I've been putting up with the last few years, too..."

"Then, perhaps we should return to our discussion," Domina inserted.  "While your discussion of the Legacy virus has been interesting, it is not the reason we have come.  In view of what I have heard, it would appear that the spikes are suffering from the situation as well.  Ororo, you mentioned the loss of your mutant abilities in the past; your records indicate that you actively sought to regain them then.  Will you do any less now?  Tell me, do you intend to take action against the so-called High Evolutionary?"

Bobby saw Jean look at the X-Men around the table, one by one, her gaze lingering longest on Logan.  Neither Hank nor Moira met her eyes, but the others nodded.

Jean drew in a deep breath, and said, "Yes."


	23. Chapter 23, Interlude

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, to Derrick for supplying medical expertise when necessary, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!  Poor Kitty and Bobby have been pretty busy lately – I think its time they take a break.  Sooo…

Just a Couple of Kids, After All…

Chapter 23

**Interlude**

Bobby was rummaging through the cabinets in the kitchen, looking for the secret Twinkie stash he "knew" had to be there.  He'd just put his head and shoulders into the bottom cabinet next to the dishwasher when he was startled by a voice behind him.

"Umm, Bobby?" he heard, and promptly sat up, slamming his head into the top of the cabinet.

"Aww shit!" he exclaimed, pulling the top half of his body out of the cabinet and rubbing his head.  "What do you want, Warren?" he asked, turning to glare at the man who'd snuck up behind him, and was somewhat gratified to see that his nose was still swollen.

"Well, I – that is, Hank thought I – well, I wanted to apologize for what I said about Kitty at the meeting," Warren said reluctantly, and Bobby glared at him.

"Because you're sorry, or because Hank told you to?" he asked.  The back of his head was throbbing, and his instinctive impulse to apply ice hadn't worked for obvious reasons.

"Well – both, I suppose," Warren admitted reluctantly.  "I've really got nothing against Kitty, you know."

"Funny way of showing it," Bobby grumbled.  "Apology accepted.  Get out of my face, ok?"

"Bobby, I…"

"Warren, I really don't feel like hearing it right now, all right?  I accepted your apology.  Just go."

Warren stared at him for a moment, then turned and walked out of the kitchen.  Bobby sat back against the offending cabinet and stared at Warren's retreating back.  He was admittedly in a foul mood, and forced apologies from former friends weren't on his agenda.

The meeting had ended about two hours ago.  Kitty had been called in to discuss the possibility of shutting down the High Evolutionary's satellite's remotely shortly after Jean had agreed to help the Neo in their quest.  He hadn't, and had kicked back in the computer room, watching the "brains" of the X-Men and Neo discuss the possibilities, and analyzing the data Kitty had pried out of the Neo's files.  He now knew more about the Neo than anyone in the mansion, aside from the Neo themselves.  But no one was asking.

Kitty had spent the following hour on the phone trying to get in touch with Douglock, whose help she felt was essential to the plans she'd been discussing with Seth. Rahne, who had seen Douglock most recently, had been with her, making suggestions based on his last known whereabouts and his stated plans.  Kitty had then gone over to the University on Logan's bike to complete her labs, and he was at loose ends.  

Jean, Ororo, Logan, Domina, Jaeger, and Arakasi were still holed up in the conference room, but he'd gotten bored listening to them debate the details by himself and turned off the show.  The Neo had been assigned rooms at the mansion, and the non-leaders among them were being given a tour by Rogue.  Judging by their brief encounter in the hallway earlier, she seemed to be enjoying the assignment, alternately joking with Amarantha and Moran and snubbing Rax, whose low opinion of spikes in general did not seem to apply to well-built brunettes.  Jubilee had returned with the munchkins, then dragged a not-unwilling Seth off for a private tour.  He hadn't yet discovered what if anything she'd done, and just didn't feel like launching a search to find out.  No doubt, he thought groaning, he'd find out soon enough.

And Hank – Hank had closed himself in the lab with Moira immediately after leaving the conference room.  Bobby didn't know what they were doing in there, but he really didn't feel like barging in as usual, anyway.

"This sucks," he said to himself, standing up to get some ice out of the freezer.

"What does, mon ami?" he heard behind him.  "Oh, the freezer, non?  I t'ink Rogue ate the last of the ice cream yesterday, if you looking for that.  No one been shopping for days," he added, shrugging, as Bobby turned around to face him.  "Been too busy.  I t'ink even Hank is out of Twinkies."

"Nah, it's not the ice cream," he said, pulling out some ice and wrapping it in a towel, then sitting down at the kitchen table while he pressed he makeshift ice bag against his head.  Remy sat down opposite him but said nothing, apparently waiting for Bobby to continue.  They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"It's just – what am I doing here?" he asked finally, marveling that he was actually confiding in Remy LeBeau.  They'd never been close, mostly because Bobby had blamed him for Rogue's chronic unhappiness.  "I mean, I don't even live here any more.  For all the good I'm doing, I might as well be back in Port Jefferson, checking on my customers and cutting my parents' grass."

Remy chuckled.  "Dat's desperate – de grass make you sneeze, no?"

Bobby looked at him, surprised.  "How'd you know that?  I don't think there's more than a couple people who know – Cecelia gave me some pills, but I left them at home."

Remy shrugged.  "Lucky guess.  I notice you always stay by de pool when we have picnics, and always bow out when Stormy wants to give tours of her new plants.  Last time you play baseball wit' the rest of us you keep sneezin', and blame de sun in your eyes.  The sun behind you, though, so I figure allergies."

"You're awfully observant," Bobby answered, more than a little surprised, and saw Gambit shrug again.  

"You learn a lot watchin' people.  I don' know you dat well, so I watch and see why Rogue like you so much."

"Oh?" Bobby asked disinterestedly, shifting the position of his ice towel, then sighing and setting it down on the table.  The ice had already melted.

"Yeah, Chere talk 'bout you a lot.  You a good friend, she says.  So I wonder, why she think he so special?"

"That's nice of her," Bobby answered.  "Did you figure it out?"

"Yes," Remy replied, grinning.  Bobby refused to ask him to elaborate, turning his attention back to his melted ice bag which was dripping all over the table.  Sighing, he wiped the worst of the water off with his sleeve, recognizing the table as the one they'd had when he'd first come to Xavier's.  He ran his fingers idly along the edge, and sure enough, found the tic-tac-toe game he and Hank had carved in with an especially sharp piece of ice he'd created for the purpose.  

"Ok, homme, let's go," Remy said finally, standing up and stretching.

"Where?" Bobby asked, looking up.  

"Dere ain't nothin' we can do here, but there's somethin' that needs doin' we can take care of.  Better den sitting around, I'm thinkin'."

"What's that?" 

"We goin' shopping.  Stormy ask me to; the Neo stayin' over, and we got no food.  Besides, don't know about you, but I hate when dere's no snack food."

Unable to think of a reason to refuse, Bobby stood up and followed Remy out the door.  His heart felt a little lighter; there wasn't any situation that couldn't be improved by Twinkies, after all.

*************************

When Kitty unlocked the door of the mansion about 7:00, she was nearly run over by a small flying body.  Catching her balance, she grinned as she scooped Cailin up and turned her upside down.

"Hey, no fair!" the girl shouted, laughing, her blond hair trailing on the floor.  "Put me up!"

"Don't you mean down?" Kitty asked as she gently swung her this way and that.

"No, 'cause then you'll drop me on my head," she reasoned.  Unable to fault her logic, Kitty laughingly turned her right side up and set her down.  "Is Bobby with you?" Cailin asked, peering around Kitty to see out the door.

"No, isn't he here?" Kitty asked, puzzled.  She looked around the corner into the living room, and saw a mixture of X-Men and Neo smiling indulgently at the scene they'd just witnessed.  But no Bobby.

"Nope.  The one with the white stripe in her hair said he went somewhere.  Jubilee's bummed - we pulled the greatest prank on him, and he didn't even find it yet." Jubilee, she noticed, was sitting on the couch next to Seth, gesturing wildly as she told some story, much to his apparent amusement.

"Hey, you're not supposed to tell her that!" Diego protested as he joined them.  "She'll tell him for sure."

"No she won't," Cailin contradicted.  "Besides, I didn't tell her what we did, did I?"

"Ok, ok," Kitty said, laughing as she looked around the room and smiled in acknowledgement of Logan's wave.  "I don't know where he is, but I won't tell him, all right?  What've you guys been doing?"

"Not much," Diego grumbled.  "Jubilee showed us around, but there's not much to do.  And then Seth showed up, and she's been ignoring us ever since."

"Well, that doesn't seem fair," Kitty conceded.  "Didn't she show you the game room, though?  I think the Playstation's hooked up, and I know Hank's got a ton of games…"

"Oh, Rax is in there," Cailin said with an exaggerated sigh. "He says we're too young to play with Spike toys,."

"Oh he does, does he?  Well, let's see about that…" Kitty said, taking the kids by the hand and walking them down the hall to the game room.  She pushed the door open, and found Rax sitting on the floor in front of the Playstation, engrossed in Nascar Thunder.  Letting go of Cailin and Diego's hands, she walked over and powered the game off.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing!" Rax shouted, jumping to his feet.  

"You've been evicted," she replied.  "Let the kids play.  Come on guys," she added, waving Cailin and Diego over, and putting in Cubix.  They settled down at the game console, and within moments were playing, oblivious to everything else.

"They're too young to be contaminated by Spike games!" he protested.

"You seem to like them," Kitty replied heatedly.

"You have no right," Rax steamed, but Kitty just grabbed his arm and led him out the door.  She opened her mouth to tell him what she thought of him, but he just glared at her and stormed off toward the living room.  She shrugged, and walked off in the opposite direction toward the kitchen.

"Hey Kit, what's up?" Rogue asked as she walked in.  She was peering into the refrigerator, but turned briefly and threw Kitty a smile.

"Uhh, done with my labs," Kitty answered, sinking down onto a chair.  "You?"

"Just hidin' out," she replied into the frig, then emerged with two bottles of beer.  "You want one?" she asked, and tossed it to her when Kitty nodded.

"Sounds good.  Where's Remy?" she asked grinning.

Rogue just grinned back.  "Out shopping with Bobby," she replied once Kitty had begun drinking her beer.

"What?" Kitty snorted, beer spraying out of her mouth and pouring out of the bottle.  She mock-glared at Rogue as she got up to get a paper towel.  "You're a real shit, you know?  Where are they really?"

"No, it's the truth, Kit," Rogue answered, handing her the roll of Bounty.  "They went to the grocery store; Remy said somethin' 'bout Bobby needin' to get out of the mansion for a while, and Bobby mumbled somethin' 'bout Twinkies.  Couldn't believe it mahself - they're the last two Ah'd expect to be goin' grocery shopping, leastwise together.  But hey, we're outta ice cream, and there's only a couple more beers after these, so at least their timing's good."  She sat down across the table from where Kitty was mopping up her beer with the toweling and leaned back, putting her feet up on the chair to her left and taking a long drink.

"So," she asked as Kitty finished wiping up the spill.  "What're your intentions regardin' my little brother?"

"Huh?" Kitty asked, turning from the garbage can and staring at Rogue, who was looking at her coolly with her best "I'm evaluating your prospects" expression on her face. "Since when did you become Bobby's big sister?"

"Hey, closest I got!" Rogue protested laughing.  "Kurt's older than me, after all. Ah figure if you and Jubes can call each other sisters 'cause of Logan, Ah can pick mahself a little brother, right?  Besides, there's somethin' 'bout Bobby that makes ya want ta take care of him," she admitted, finishing her first beer and setting it down on the table next to Kitty's.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Kitty admitted, smiling.  She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with Rogue - they got along well enough, but had never been really close.  Of course, considering how she'd treated Rogue when she'd arrived at the manor, she always felt she was lucky Rogue was willing to speak to her at all.  She felt a sudden yearning for Illyana, or Rachel, or anyone around her age and female who she could have a real conversation with.  It wasn't that Kurt wasn't a great friend, but there was something about starting a new relationship that was only complete when shared with a girl friend.

"So, tell me; how're you guys getting' along?" Rogue asked, leaning forward.

"Fine," Kitty said mischievously, knowing Rogue wanted details and having fun making her dig them out.  Actually, they'd been getting along more than fine, and she realized this was probably the longest they'd been apart in days.  She pulled two more beers out of the frig, tossed one to Rogue, and sat down on her now dry chair.  Leaning back, she propped her feet next to Rogue's.  

"Fine?  Fine?" Rogue said, thumping her beer bottle down on the table.  "That's all you're going to tell me!  Ok, fine, be that way - see if I tell you any incriminatin' stories," she added, looking the other way as Kitty started laughing.  

"Oh fine," she said and Rogue turned back eagerly.  "It's going great, actually," she continued, running her fingers against a tick-tac-toe game someone had inscribed in the table.  "Bobby's a lot of fun.  And a LOT smarter than most people realize," she added with some irritation, and was surprised when she saw Rogue nod.

"Ah know," she said.  "There's a brain behind all those one-liners.  Don't see how people don't realize it, mahself, but then Ah didn't at first, either.  Took a trip cross-country to convince me."

"Everything ok between you and Remy now?" Kitty asked.

"Oh sure," Rogue replied, pulling absently at her long sleeves.  "Yeah, we been workin' everything out.  It takes time, but he's bein' patient."

"That's good," Kitty said.  "Is it easier, without your powers?" she asked, hoping she wasn't getting too personal.

"Yeah," Rogue admitted, realizing what she was doing and dropping her hands in disgust.  "And no.  It's an adjustment, ya know?  Damn, it's been YEARS since I been able to touch anyone, and Ah'm still afraid to.  Silly, huh?  Ya'd think Ah'd jump at the chance ta jump right in bed with the Cajun fool."  She opened the bottle, and took another long drink.

Actually, Kitty's been thinking just that, and was embarrassed when she realized just how immature that thought was.  She opened her beer as well, and the two sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking steadily.

"Course, you and Bobby timed things just right," Rogue continued, looking distracted.  "Ah mean, y'all will have a little time to make the most of it before things go back to normal."

"What do you mean?" Kitty asked, blushing.  Her own problems weren't common knowledge, as far as she knew.  The only ones she'd ever confided in were Moira and Amanda, and she doubted either of them would have gossiped.

"Ya know, b'fore ya all gotta deal with - aw shit, Kit, never mind," Rogue said quickly.  "Just forget Ah said anything, will ya?  Hey, you want another beer?" she asked, getting up and walking over to the refrigerator, pausing only long enough to throw her empty bottle in the direction of the recycle bin.  It teetered on the edge for a moment before falling on the floor.

"I thought you said these were the last ones?" Kitty asked, staring at Rogue and wondering what she'd been about to say.

"Did I?  Oh, there's gotta be some more in here somewhere," Rogue said as she rummaged through the frig and successfully pulled out two more beers, one of which she tossed to Kitty.

"Come on, Rogue, what were you going to say?" Kitty said, feeling defensive.  "Before Bobby has to worry about me phasing through the bed?  Is it common knowledge now?"

"What!  Damn Kit - no, Ah didn't know about that!  You mean you - aw shit," Rogue said again, and Kitty could see her trying not to laugh.  Finally, she couldn't keep it in any more, and started laughing, brushing her bangs out of her face with her hand.  "Was it Pete Wisdom?  Oh, it had to be Pete.  Ah heard all about him from Kurt!  Shit, you mean Pete-ouch!" She laughed harder as Kitty continued to glare at her. "Damn!  That had to be a shock!"  

Despite her incoherence, Kitty suddenly had a mental image of what Rogue was picturing, and started laughing herself.   "Yeah, when you look at it that way, I guess it is pretty funny," she admitted, seeing again the surprised look on Pete's face as he hit the mattress and appreciating it as she couldn't at the time.  "He wasn't too thrilled, and I can't exactly say I blame him, you know?  But hey, if you weren't talking about that, what did you mean?"

Rogue sobered, and looked at Kitty.  "Ah don't know if ah should say anything…"

"Come on, if there's something I should know…", Kitty replied seriously.

"Well, ah wouldn't know mahself, ya understand, if Bobby hadn't gotten drunk after Opal dumped him.  I guess he needed to vent an' all.   Anyway, what happens to a guy when he gets cold all of a sudden?"

"He shivers?" Kitty guessed, then realized what Rogue meant.  "Oh." 

"I mean, it's not like he CAN'T, ya know, it's just it takes some concentration," Rogue stammered, trying to clarify without saying any more than she had to, apparently embarrassed to be talking about it.  Kitty could sympathize, the conversation was embarrassing her too, but since she hoped she'd soon be involved, so to speak, she wanted to hear it all.  "Not that I know personally," she said reassuringly, "but I don't think he's lyin' about it, either.  I guess his temperature tends to drop real fast when he gets nervous or excited, and he's kinda gotta watch out for it and keep it constant, or…"

"I think I get the picture," Kitty said, figuring the details didn't matter.  "I take it Opal wasn't very - umm, understanding?

Rogue snorted.  "Her?  Ah never did like her," she admitted.  "Only met her a couple o' times, but she didn't seem right for Bobby.  Too damn shallow.  Did you evah meet her?"  Kitty shook her head, and Rogue rolled her eyes.  "Lucky you.  They had other problems too, she couldn't handle the whole spandex thing, wanted him to hide who he was all the time.  Just the last thing that guy needs, more reasons to be insecure," she commented, shaking her head.  "This was just kind of the tip of the iceberg, if ya know what Ah mean.  No pun intended," she added quickly as Kitty stared at her.  "Anyway, it ain't none of my business, really, but –"

"You care about him," Kitty finished for her, and Rogue nodded, looking at Kitty carefully.

"Right.  I guess I'm kinda hopin' that if you gotta problem with it you'll back out before y'all get too close and he gets really hurt again."

"I've got no intentions of hurting Bobby, now or later" Kitty said, taking another drink of her beer, and the two smiled at each other, an understanding having been forged between them.

"Damn, how the hell are mutants ever gonna reproduce?  We're a pretty pathetic bunch," Rogue exclaimed, changing the subject.  "Magnus loves to hear himself talk about the mutant race, but Ah can't see how we're evah gonna have a second generation, mahself.  Well, not me an Magnus, Ah mean, all us mutants.  Ah can't touch anyone, you phase right through the furniture, Remy claims to have charged the bed sheets a couple a times, Bobby damn near gave Opal frostbite once -"

For some reason Kitty found that funny, and started laughing.  "He did what?"

"Well, so she claimed, or so he said she claimed – oh, ya know what ah mean.  He made it there, but it came out ice cold, and she wasn't too thrilled," Rogue said, chuckling.  "Don't know that Ah'd be either, but damn, it's not like it was on purpose."

Kitty just shivered thinking about it, then laughed.

"What?" Rogue asked.

"I think I just realized why there used to be so many slashes in Logan's sheets after REALLY stormy nights!

Both of them burst out in giggles, and each took another drink of her beer.

"Somehow, I'm not sure Ah wanted to know that.  I betcha Bets in enjoyin' herself these days, though."

"Why?"

"Something she said one time about Warren usin' his wings as an excuse ta always be on top."

More laughter, only quenched by more beer.

"Amanda once told told me about some things Kurt could do with his tail…"

"Ah SO do not want to know!  That is just SO wrong – damn, I wonder if he can…"

"According to Amanda, yes!"

"Aw shit!"  Both girls peered into their bottles, which were empty.  Kitty left the room for a few minutes, and came back with another case of full bottles.

"Logan's?"  Rogue asked, grabbing one.

"Yup," Kitty replied.  Suddenly she blushed, and Rogue looked at her curiously.

"What?  Looks like you got one of your own to tell…"

"Oh, nothing major," she replied, grinning.  "Pete set the sheets on fire once."

"For real?"   Shit girl, that's a lot worse than a little cold!  Was anyone hurt?"

"Oh no, the sheets just got a little singed," Kitty reassured her.  "Wonder if anyone else has problems?"

"Oh, Ah'd guess so," Rogue replied, taking another drink of her beer and settling back down in her chair as Kitty did the same.  "Everyone's got problems, after all.  So what does Kurt all do with his tail, anyway?"

************************

Bobby had a problem.

No, a dilemma.

He and Remy had diligently cruised their carts around the Westchester Piggly Wiggly, picking up the staples of life at the Xavier Institute; milk, bread, eggs, bacon, everyone's favorite types of dry cereal, lots and lots of frozen pizzas, several different brands of beer, and the ingredients to make enough jambalaya to feed both the X-Men and Neo the following day.  After some discussion they'd picked out some lunchmeat and sandwich makings for lunch as well.  Remy's casual conversation and ability to flirt with any female in a ten mile radius soon had him laughing instead of sulking, and he'd gradually emerged from the self-pity he'd been indulging in.  Some lingering concerns about leaving Kitty in the mansion with Piotr surfaced from time to time, but he reassured himself that neither Logan nor Kurt was likely to let anything happen to her, even if she weren't quite capable of defending herself.  

He tried to ignore the other nagging voice in his mind, telling him that he really did need to have a talk with Kitty before things got too much further, especially since it seemed likely he'd be regaining his mutant "abilities" soon.  Part of him really wanted to tell her; he'd started to the other day before Hank had interrupted them.  It seemed like the right thing to do, getting it out in the open as opposed to thinking he could hide it like he had tried to with Opal.  Which hadn't worked all that well, though in retrospect he liked to think a little frostbite was just what she deserved.  

But the other part wanted to ignore the potential problem completely, letting their relationship progress without worrying about whether or not he was rushing things just so he could get laid without having to keep stopping and forcing his temperature up.  It seemed incredibly selfish, after all, and he really did care deeply about Kitty.  And that, he knew, was the important thing; if she felt the same, they'd work everything else out.  He forced himself to stop thinking, focusing on the present.  

Which was enough of a problem, all things considered.

"So, what you think, mon ami?  Dey got no Twinkies; we get HoHos or Swiss Cake Rolls?" Remy asked, as he and Bobby contemplated the snack display.

"How about those little powdered donuts?" Bobby finally replied, pointing.

"Dat'll work," Remy answered, and put six boxes of them into his cart.

***********************

When Remy and Bobby finally stumbled into the kitchen, their arms laden with overflowing bags of groceries, they found Rogue and Kitty chatting like old friends, the empty bottles of Logan's not-so-secret stash of beer cluttering the table.

"I t'ink we in trouble, mon ami," Remy said to Bobby as they set the bags of groceries down on the counter.

"You know it, Cajun," Rogue replied sweetly before she and Kitty subsided into a fit of giggles.

"Well, you know what they say," Bobby said to Remy as he leaned over and kissed the top of Kitty's head.

"What's dat?"

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," Bobby said, pulling up a chair next to her and grabbing one of the remaining beers.  She leaned over toward him, tipping her chair, and he caught her just before she fell and pulled her onto his lap.  She wiggled a little, getting comfortable, then snuggled in like a cat.  It seemed to him he could almost feel her purr.

"Sounds like good logic to me," Remy said, scooping Rogue off her chair and sitting down on it, settling her into a similar position.  She protested briefly, then relaxed, curling up against his chest.

"It seem to me, Drake, dat we two lucky men," Remy said, raising a beer bottle, which Bobby obligingly clinked with his own.

"You've got that right, LeBeau," he said, and as he leaned down to kiss Kitty, he saw Remy doing the same with Rogue.  "Definitely a lucky man," he said again to Kitty quietly.

"Who, Remy?" she asked giggling.

"No, silly.  Me."


	24. Chapter 24

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback! For those of you reading who haven't, please let it be known once again that I'm a total review junkie, and they haven't developed a five step program yet. Therefore, the more you review the happier I am, and the faster the next chapter goes up! Just push the little button at the bottom of the page… J

Just a Couple of Kids, After All…

Chapter 24

Kitty woke up the next morning with a pounding head and a body too big to be that of Lockheed snuggled up against her back.

A quick glance down confirmed that she'd fallen asleep in her clothes; another at the arm wrapped around her identified the person behind her as Bobby.  Trying not to wake him, she wiggled out from under his arm, silently cursing herself for trying to match Rogue beer for beer the night before.  She'd had hangovers before when she'd gone out with Pete, but they weren't something she'd missed.  Quietly making her way to the bathroom, she grabbed some ibuprofen out of the medicine cabinet and popped two.  Lockheed flew in and settled down on the edge of the sink, an amused expression on his face.

"Oh, shush, Dragon, I'm paying for it, all right?" she said as she walked back to her room.  Opening the door slowly, she peered through to see if she'd woken Bobby.

He was still asleep, the covers bunched around his knees revealing a bare chest and a pair of teal briefs around his hips.  She smiled, admiring the view, and was half tempted to go crawl back into bed with him.  She was taking a step in that direction when he opened his eyes and smiled back at her.

"G'morning," he said sleepily.

"I'm not so sure," she answered skeptically, rubbing her forehead.  "I think I overdid it last night."

"Hmm," he replied noncommittally, then patted the bed next to him.  "Want to come back to bed?" he asked hopefully.

"Sounds good," she said, and came over and sat down next to him.  "You know," she said as she laid back, "one of these days we're going to have to do this right."

"Huh?  Do WHAT right?" he asked, and she laughed.

"Go to bed without either of us passing out."

"Hang on here – 'I' haven't passed out yet," Bobby said, looking at her indignantly.  "You're the one who keeps falling asleep on your feet.  Literally – I practically had to tip you onto the bed to get your shoes off.  Sorry to make you sleep in your jeans again, by the way, but I wasn't sure how you'd react if I tried to take them off."

"Last night?  I probably would have been oblivious," she admitted.

"And now?"

"Why don't you try it and see?" she answered playfully, any symptoms of her hangover having pushed themselves to the back of her mind.

Bobby looked at her as if trying to decide if she was joking or not, then reached out with right hand and began slowly unzipping her jeans, keeping eye contact the whole time as if waiting for her to change her mind.  Instead, she reached over his arm and put her hand on his shoulder, gently tracing her way down his back.  He gave a little tug at her shirt, pulling it out from her jeans, and raised his eyebrows.

"Ok?" he asked hopefully, with that smile that seemed to make her melt more every time she saw it.

"Uh, huh," she answered, moving her hand for a moment as she lifted herself onto her hand and elbow to allow him better access.  He pulled her shirt up, pausing a moment at her bra to to run his hands over her breasts gently, then with a little help from her pulled the shirt over her head.  They settled back down on the bed, and with a grin Bobby turned his attention to removing her jeans.

"Now, let's just see what kind of reaction I get," he joked.  

And there was a knock at the door.

"Go away!" Bobby yelled, dropping back on the bed in frustration.  Kitty started laughing at his reaction and the repeating ridiculous situation.  She didn't remember anywhere near this many interruptions when she was with Excalibur.  She picked at a loose thread at the top of her coral colored sheets while she waited for whoever it was to either identify themselves or leave.

"What're you doin' in there, Drake?" she heard Logan ask, and she laughed louder when she saw the deer-in-the-headlights look that appeared on Bobby's face as he sat up abruptly.  She heard Logan chuckle, and Bobby plopped back down with a groan, shaking his head.  

"What's up, Logan?" she asked after she gave Bobby a quick peck on the cheek.

"Douglock called, he'll be here in a couple of hours.  Still planning on getting' in our workout before that?  Or are you planning on stayin' in bed all day?"

"I'd kind of hoped for the latter, actually," she replied, grinning at Bobby, who shrugged his shoulders in a "here we go again" response.

She heard Logan chuckle.  "Sorry, kid – I mighta let you off the hook, but ya should have asked before you and Rogue swiped all my beer.  Now, get your butts out of bed and get dressed.  And Drake – I think Jeannie's lookin' for you."

"Tell her I'll be there in a bit, ok?" Bobby answered, rolling his eyes, but Kitty thought he looked pleased.  She knew he'd been upset the day before when she'd been called off to meet with the Neo and he hadn't, but she also knew he'd put a lot of effort into extrapolating information from the Neo's files, and sincerely hoped Jean was going to appreciate it.

*********************

"Not a problem," Logan replied, and walked away, wondering absently why Piotr had had such a strange look on his face when he'd walked past and heard Bobby's voice coming from Kitty's room.  Kit was an adult, after all – no reason she shouldn't have a guy in her room if she wanted to.  Shrugging, he forgot about it almost immediately, turning his thoughts to the upcoming workout with Kitty.

*********************

"Damn," Bobby said, laying back on the bed, his hands behind his head.  

"I'd say that sums it up pretty well," Kitty replied as she stood up and stretched.  

"Hey, no fair doing that.  I ALREADY don't want to get up!" Bobby complained, watching her slim body, clad only in a bra and a pair of unzipped jeans, and saw her blush .  

"Oh, come on," she said, reaching out a hand to help him up.

"No-o-o-o," he complained as he let her pull him to a sitting position.  "Don't want to get up!  Want to stay in bed."  He gave an experimental tug, hoping to pull her back in with him, but she'd braced herself well and just pulled back and let go.

"Fine, stay in bed," she said, grinning.  "Or come watch me and Logan work out."

"Hmm, that IS tempting," he replied, as his subconscious supplied an image of Kitty in spandex.  "Ok, I'm up," he said, getting to his feet and walking toward her.

"Oh darn," Kitty said, snapping her fingers and backing up.  "I almost forgot you told Logan you'd be down to see Jean.  Wouldn't want to keep our fearless leader waiting, would you?"

"You did that on purpose," he accused her as she feigned innocence, then laughed.

"Well, hurry up with Jean and then come down to the Danger Room," she answered.  "Maybe we'll still be there."

"Maybe I will," Bobby replied casually, as he retrieved his pants from the floor next to her bed and pulled them on.  "See you then," he finally said, and kissed the tip of her nose before opening the door and walking out into the hallway.

**********************************

People, Bobby decided as he made the trek down the hallway to Jean's office, were conspiring against him.

It wasn't paranoia, either.  It was a definite conspiracy.

Somehow, there was someone out there who was making sure he and Kitty got interrupted every time they were both awake in bed.  He considered whether or not it might be orchestrated by one of the X-Men's enemies, but couldn't remember any that had this as a modus operandi.  Jubilee was the next most likely candidate, and he briefly marveled that he hadn't yet run into the prank she'd claimed she was going to pull on him.  Maybe he wasn't too far off on the conspiracy theory after all.

In any case, it was getting really, really frustrating, and the shower he'd taken after leaving her room had just made it worse, especially once he'd thought about how nice it would have been to have had her in there with him.  Despite other advantages, that he didn't seem to be able to take advantage of anyway, there were times that not being able to lower your own body temperature had a definite downside.  

As he reached the office door, he wondered idly just how far away from the mansion he and Kitty could get before he had to be back from vacation.  Not, he suspected, that he'd be able to convince her to go with everything that was going on here.

He knocked on the door to Jean's office, remembering for a moment how many times he'd done knocked on this door as a teen in response to the Professor's mental call, and was rewarded with a "come in".  Jean was sitting at her paper-strewn desk, and waved him into the chair across from her.

"Hi Bobby, have a seat," she said, and he sat down, setting his own papers on the desk in front of him and his laptop bag on the floor next to his chair.

"What's up, Jean?" he asked as she sat looking at him, her fingers steepled in front of her on the desktop.

"Well, I was going to call Kitty in to discuss the data the two of you compiled on the Neo, but I understand you did most of the research after we called her into the meeting.  I hoped you could bring me up to date," she said.  Something in her tone made Bobby feel as if she were reluctantly giving him the benefit of the doubt, but didn't have much confidence that the results would be satisfactory.

"Sure," he answered as he pulled his laptop out of the bag and turned it on.  "Give me just a second, ok?  I saved the data on the network, I just need to hook up to it."

"Take your time," she said, turning to the papers on her desk.

After what seemed an eternity, his laptop connected to the mansion's wireless network, and he clicked on the Word icon on his taskbar.

He was rewarded with blasting music, which nearly caused him to drop the laptop and did cause Jean to cover her ears.

"Boom, boom, boom, let's go back to my room…"

"Can you turn that down!" Jean yelled as Bobby fumbled for the volume control.

"I'm trying!" he shouted back, finally finding the volume adjustment and selecting mute.

"What was that all about?" Jean asked, removing her hands from her ears.

Bobby just groaned.  "Jubilee."

It took a little experimentation, but Bobby managed, despite Jean's increasingly impatient glares, to access his main file on the Neo.

"Ok, here we go.  What did you want to know?"

"Good question," Jean answered, considering.  "Who are they?  Are they some new type of mutant, or something else?  How are they structured?  Do you have anything like that?"

"Sure," he said confidently.  "Ok, let's see.  They don't believe they are mutants; I suppose it would take Hank and a lab to make sure, but they've never been affected by Legacy, which might be a sign that they're right.  They've been around for several centuries – not these people," he clarified at Jean's startled look, "their whole society.  From what I can tell, their lifespans are about the same as ours."

"And Domina is their leader?"

"One of their leaders," Bobby said, warming up on the topic.  "Each group of the Neo has their own, and each is called Domina.  Always female, from what I can tell, but they give up their birth names when they're chosen for the position.  OUR Domina seems to be the one overall in charge of all the groups, at least for the duration of this crisis."

"It's not hereditary, then?"

"Yes and no.  The current Domina of each group chooses another woman from her family when she's ready to step down.  Not normally a daughter, though; more like a cousin, a niece, something like that.  Even a foster daughter, sometimes.  The main qualifications seem to be that the new Domina is related in some way to the old one, has leadership abilities, and has the ability to assume the Domina's powers."

"Which are?"

"Basically, the ability to channel all the powers of her group of the Neo.  From what I saw of the meeting, I'd guess Moran is the likely candidate at this point.  I don't think Amarantha has the necessary abilities," he said, considering.

"How can you tell?" Jean asked with interest.  Bobby was somewhat surprised that she didn't comment on him "seeing" the meeting; perhaps Kitty had told her they'd been watching.

"Wrong face paint," he answered shrugging.  She raised her eyebrows, and he continued.  "It looks like she's an energy caster – I'm sorry, the Neo's records were a little vague on what their abilities are, apparently it's so well known it's not even recorded, unless someone did something noteworthy and it makes the logs.  It takes a power-assumer to be Domina.  Or Jaeger, for that matter," he added.  "Same rules apply."

"A power-assumer? Like Rogue?" Jean asked.

"Basically," Bobby answered.  "I get the impression the ability works much the same way hers does, except that they can control it, and once they've manifested a "borrowed" ability they can manifest it again at any time.  It doesn't fade like Rogue's does," he finished, shrugging.

"You've really done your homework," Jean said, the surprise evident in her voice.

"Is it that hard to believe?" Bobby asked, grinning.

"Actually, yes," Jean answered, smiling back.  "But I have a feeling it shouldn't be.  So tell me, do you have any more surprises for me?"

"Lots actually," Bobby replied, and went on with the information he'd gathered about the Neo's society, inwardly grinning.  Maybe Warren would never take him seriously, but it seemed like he'd finally, after all these years, made an impression on Jean.  

***********************

Kitty glanced over her shoulder, and was rewarded with a kick to her shin.

"Hey!" she yelled, flipping back to her opponent, who had backed up a few steps and was casually standing and grinning at her.

"Where's your attention, Kit?  I ain't seen you this distracted during a workout since you were fourteen," Logan observed.  "Are you that hung over, or have you got something else on your mind?"

"Oh, Bobby said he was going to stop by when he was done meeting with Jean," she answered, walking over to the side of the room where she'd left her towel.  While she used it to wipe the sweat from her face, she surreptitiously peeked at the door again.

"Must've had a lot to talk about," Logan shrugged, joining her.  "I think she had some questions about the data you swiped from the Neo."

"Good," Kitty said, setting her towel back down and beginning some cool-down stretches.

"Why 'Good'?"  Logan asked curiously.  "I'm surprised you aren't running down there to get in your two cents worth."

"Nah, I've got enough to handle if we're going to try to hack into the High Evolutionary's satellite system," she replied.  "Bobby can handle it."

"You must really like the kid," Logan said, with a hint of question in his voice, and Kitty smiled.

"I do," she answered simply.

"Course, I kinda guessed that when he answered your door this morning…" Logan teased, and Kitty whacked him on the shoulder.

"You know, Logan, your timing really had something to be desired," Kitty said, mock-glaring at him.  "You owe me big time for this one."

Logan laughed.  "Kid, when this is all over I'll loan you my cabin for as long a vacation as you guys want.  Assuming you replace the beer you 'borrowed', that is."

Kitty's interest was perked.  "That mystery cabin in the middle of nowhere you're always talking about?  I thought that was your secret getaway place?"

"Yeah, well, don't look like I'm gonna be goin' on many secret getaways for a while, does it?" he asked gruffly.  "Even assumin' we get through this whole thing, I think I'm gonna be kinda busy."

Kitty laughed, a sudden picture of Logan pushing a baby stroller around DisneyWorld flashing through her mind, squashed only slightly by the knowledge that if Logan didn't regain his healing factor he might not be alive for the child to be born.  

"What's so funny?" he asked suspiciously.

"Trust me, you DON'T want to know."

At that moment, Bobby rushed in, stopping short when he saw Kitty and Logan talking by the wall.

"I missed it," he groaned.  "Sorry Kit – Jean and I were talking –"

"About the Neo," she finished, walking over and putting her hands on his shoulders.  "I know, Logan told me.  It's no big deal," she added, then leaned in and kissed him, and was rewarded when he wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her closer.

"Oof, you're wet," he said, pulling back and shaking imaginary sweat off his hands and arms.

"Yeah, well, some of us been workin' this morning, Icicle," Logan said, joining them.  "How about you, got time for some exercise?"

"I think I'll pass this morning," Bobby demurred, and Kitty could see his body tense up.

"Some other time, kid, some other time," Logan said mock-threateningly, then waved at Kitty and walked out the door.

"Whew," Bobby said, fanning his face with his hand.  "That was a close call."

"Actually, he likes you," Kitty contested.  

Bobby just stared at her.

"No, I mean it," she insisted, taking his arm and leading him out of the room.  "If he didn't like you, you'd have had your life threatened by now."

"I did."

"Only if you hurt me," she clarified as she glanced at the clock display in the hall.  "Damn, Douglock's going to be here in about twenty minutes, and I need to grab a shower.  Quick, how'd things go with Jean?"

Bobby didn't say anything at first, and she began to tense up, afraid that Jean had rejected his findings.  She turned to look at him and saw the dejected look on his face, but moments later saw it transform into a grin.

"Gotcha!" he said, and she rolled her eyes.  "Put it this way – I've got to get a move on, too; I've got a meeting with Jean, Storm, Logan, and the Neo to discuss the possibility of a frontal attack if you hackers don't get through.  Apparently Domina wants me there," he added, rolling HIS eyes, "but this time Jean didn't argue.  Says she wants me there to smooth things over if they get into an argument." 

"That's great!" Kitty said, relieved.  "Hey, what do you say to dinner tonight to celebrate?  Assuming neither of us gets tied up with anything else, that is?"

"You're on," Bobby said, suddenly picking her up and swinging her around.  Laughing her protests, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he lowered her to the floor.  "Thanks, Kit," he said seriously.

"For what?" she asked.  "I didn't do anything.  YOU did."

"I know," he replied, and she felt his lips press against her forehead.  "You know, I've been with the X-Men on and off for 11 years, and I think this is the first time Jean EVER took me seriously."

"Didn't take me anywhere near that long," Kitty said smugly, and Bobby laughed.

"That's why I'm thanking you," he said, and the kiss he gave her silenced any protest she might have made.

*************************

Kitty was in her element.

"Query: Do you then believe that the appropriate method would be to first access the master controls for the station, then disable the X-Factor nullification system?  It would be considerably easier to access the nullifier first, then use that as a jumping point to the rest of the system."

It was good to see Douglock again, Kitty mused.  It had been some time since she'd bumped into him at the technology expo, and it seemed that he'd settled down a bit since, the cavalier attitude of Warlock having once again been subsumed by the more serious personality of Doug Ramsey.  She had to admit she preferred working with him when he looked like Doug as opposed to a cartoon character.  Still, that didn't mean she agreed with him.

"If we do that, 'Lock, there's nothing to stop the H.E. from resuming control and turning the nullifier back on as soon as we turn it off.  No, I know it'll be more difficult, but we've got to get full control of the satellite first."

"What about inserting some sort of a worm program?" Seth asked, peering over at the rough diagram Douglock had made after taking a quick "peek" at the High Evolutionary's systems.  He hadn't been able to hold the link long enough to gain any detailed information, as they were wary of detection at this point, but he did gain some general data on the network layout which they were using to determine which systems might be most vulnerable to an attack.  "If we could disrupt the internal network of the satellite it might accomplish the same purpose."

Kitty shook her head.  "I don't think so," she answered.  "Any worm that would be invasive enough to disrupt internal communications would affect external ones as well.  We'd risk losing our own access to the system, and I don't think we should chance that."  

"Why not?" Seth argued.  "Scramble the satellite, crash the station, and the whole thing is over."

"And the High Evolutionary and whoever else is on that station are very, very dead," Kitty retorted.

"So?"

"So?  We don't operate that way."

"The Neo will not tolerate the High Evolutionary surviving this encounter," Seth argued, slamming his hand on the table.  "Domina means for him to pay for the deaths he caused.  What better way than this?  At least there would be no further loss of life on our side."

"The X-Men are not murderers," Kitty replied irritably.

"Your logs indicate otherwise."

"I'm not saying we've never killed, Seth, but we've never set out to kill anyone.  Well, maybe Logan has, but overall our policy is to keep the bad guy alive.  If you've studied our records as closely as you claim, you'll notice that most deaths were the results of self defense."

"Phoenix?" Seth asked grimacing.  "I fail to see how consuming the sun of an inhabited planet can be termed self defense."

"I DID say most," Kitty grumbled.  "And that's a long story, so I'm not even going to get into it.  Anyway, Jean and the others will never agree to crashing the station, and that's all there is to it.  We've got to find another way."

******************

"We can't agree to that," Jean was saying decisively.  From his vantage point in the middle of the table, Bobby could see the tension in her shoulders just as well as he could the annoyance and anger on Domina's face.  "Our goal is to regain our abilities, not to seek vengeance."

"Perhaps that is your goal," Domina stormed.  "But it has not, and has never been ours.  Regardless of the success or failure of the cyber attack, the High Evolutionary must pay for his crimes against the Neo."

"Domina, we understand what your people have been through," Bobby said, jumping into the conversation.  "And I can certainly understand you wanting payback.  But what's more important here?  Restoring a normal life to those of your people who remain, or getting revenge?"

"I don't see that they are mutually exclusive," Domina replied indignantly.

"But what if they are?  You've got to understand, Domina, the X-Men aren't going to participate in this if they know you're just going along to off the High Evolutionary.  And if you could do it by yourself, you would have by now.  Isn't a chance for your people worth letting go of the revenge?  It won't bring anyone back, anyway," Bobby added, shrugging.  "Isn't your son's future more important than your daughter's death?"

"Honor demands –"

"Honor demands that you let go of the past, and focus on the future," Logan stated calmly.  "You lead your people, Domina.  It's a huge responsibility, and it's all yours.  They need what we can help you do.  Isn't that enough reason to hold off?  Don't get me wrong – I agree with you, and in the past I'd've probably been right with you, insistin' the man needs killing.  I've learned better," he said, taking hold of Jean's hand.  "There are things more important than revenge."

"We will consider your words," Domina said coldly, getting to her feet, and Bobby watched Jaeger and Arakasi follow her lead.  "It is not the Neo's way, but as you say," she added, looking first at Bobby and then at Logan, "in this case, we may have no choice."

As the Neo walked out the door, Jean slumped in her chair, brushing her hair back from her forehead with her hand.  "I hate this," she said to no one in particular.  "Scott made all this look so easy.  What do you think, will they join us?  And can we trust them if they do?"

Ororo looked at her and shook her head.  "They will join.  They truly have nowhere else to turn.  But trust them?  I think not.  Given the opportunity, she will seek Herbert Wyndham's death.  And I cannot say I truly blame her."

"What do you think, Bobby?" Jean asked, taking him by surprise.

"I've got to agree with Ororo," Bobby heard himself saying, still amazed that his opinion was being sought.  "Both in that they'll be with us, and that they'll end up against us."

Logan nodded.  "You're a surprise, kid," he said to Bobby, who raised his eyebrows.  "I'm thinkin' you picked the wrong career – you should have been a PR man or a negotiator, not an accountant."

"Nah," Bobby said, inwardly pleased.  "I'd be too tempted to freeze them all in their chairs until they agreed."

"So, what do we do next?" Jean asked.  "Obviously, we'll need to follow up a successful cyber attack with an ambassadorial mission, or we'll end up back at square one in no time."

"Send the kid," Logan said, gesturing at Bobby.  

As he saw Jean and Ororo turn to face him, Bobby's stomach suddenly did not feel at all well.

*********************

"I'm not ready for this!" Bobby said to Kitty over dinner that evening.  "I mean, they can't send me!"  They'd gone out to a casual Italian restaurant after their respective planning sessions had finally ended, and were sitting at a small table, the darkened restaurant lit slightly by the red-globed candle on the table.

"They're not going to just send you," Kitty said rationally, twirling the last of her linguini around her fork.  "They're going to send a delegation of X-Men and Neo.  They're just asking you to do the talking."

"Why me?" Bobby whined plaintively.

"Why not?" Kitty fired back.  "You're good with people, you think on your feet, and the Neo trust you."

"Even if the X-Men don't," Bobby grumbled.  The waitress came over and collected their empty plates, setting the check on the table.  Bobby picked it up and pulled some money out of his wallet, then set the money and check back down on the table.

"Well, obviously they must, or Jean wouldn't have asked you to go," Kitty replied, looking him in the eye.  "You can't have it both ways, you know – you wanted them to treat you like an adult, remember?  Now they are."

"Maybe if I pulled a couple of inappropriate pranks," Bobby said weakly, and Kitty glared at him.

"Sure, you could get out of it.  Do you really want to?"

"It's a huge responsibility…" she heard Bobby object.

"Uh huh."

"I mean, do you think I could…"  Bobby said, his eyes begging Kitty for help, but whether he wanted her to agree or disagree she wasn't sure.  She wasn't entirely sure he was, either, but there was only one answer she could give.

"Yes."

"Damn."

"Look at it this way," Kitty said reassuringly.  Grinning, she put her hand on Bobby's shoulder. "Warren's going to hate the idea."

Bobby brightened.  "He is, isn't he?  Somehow that makes me feel better."

"I thought it might."

"So, how'd the tech brainshare go?"

"Well, aside from having to convince Seth that blowing up the station wasn't an option, it went fine.  'Lock got in and got a look around without alerting anyone – he's great at that, his techno-organic circuitry doesn't trigger alarms like a regular hack would.  Barring anything we DIDN'T discover, we can definitely do it.  It'll be harder to keep things turned off, but hopefully we won't have to do that for long if you guys are successful," Kitty answered, and took a sip of her soda.

"Damn, put even more pressure on me, why don't you?"  Bobby joked, but Kitty could see the fear behind it.

"You'll do fine," she said, getting to her feet.  "Come on, let's get going."

"What's the hurry?" Bobby asked as he got to his feet.

"Just thinking about your complaint this morning," she answered, blushing.

"What's that?  That Logan wanted to gut me?"

"No, that I keep falling asleep on my feet," she said, imagining the blush she could feel warming her face rapidly spreading to cover the rest of her body.  

"Oh, are you tired?  We can head home, it's no big deal," Bobby replied considerately, putting his arm around her, and she felt like kicking him.  He was going to make her spell it out, she just knew it.

"No, I'm wide awake," she continued, hoping she wasn't making too big a fool of herself.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" he asked, his eyes brightening as they walked out of the restaurant.

"Do you want me to be?" she asked, suddenly feeling even more self-conscious.  She'd had to talk herself into bringing up the subject, still half-afraid Bobby was going to start laughing despite what she'd convinced herself was evidence to the contrary.  

Bobby paused a second as if trying to make sense of her last statement, which she suddenly realized didn't make a great deal of sense.  "Yes, I do, I think," he said finally, stopping and turning to look at her.  "Just to be sure we're on the same page, are you hinting you'd like to head back to the mansion and go to bed?"

"Yes," she replied, grateful that he'd figured it out.

"With me?" he added, as if unsure he was reading things right.

"That was kind of the idea, yeah."

"And, umm, not to sleep…?"

"Well, maybe later, but not right away, no."

He smiled.  "I was hoping that was what you were saying.  But Kitty?"

"Yeah?" she asked, relieved by his response.

"Do you mind if we try my room?  Yours seems to be in the middle of an X-Men migration pattern…" he asked plaintively.

Kitty just laughed, and they made their way back to the car.

***************************

Some time later…

Bobby Drake was laying on his back, one arm behind his head and the other serving as a pillow for Kitty, who was snuggled up next to him, her right leg wrapped around his.  His eyes were closed, and there was a trace of a smile on his face.  He felt rather than saw Kitty raise herself up on one elbow, and knew she was looking at him.

"Bobby?" she asked finally.

"Umm, hmm?" he replied, absently pulling her back on his chest with his now free arm, and was rewarded by her laugh.

"What in the world are you humming?"

"Hmm?  Oh.  Song from Shrek," he answered, opening his eyes and seeing her face only inches from his own, an amused expression on her face.

"Which?" she asked, laughing.  "And why?"

"The one with the refrain that goes, "Hallelujah, hallelujah." It just popped into my head," he explained as she began laughing.  "Somehow, it seemed appropriate."

Kitty just smiled.  It was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.


	25. Chapter 25

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them, and if they don't wrap up the current Uncanny storyline to my satisfaction I'm planning on kidnapping Bobby. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!  

Just a Couple of Kids, After All…

Chapter 25

Hank wandered down the hallway dejectedly, muttering to himself.  When he'd left the lab after spending what seemed like all day listening to non-stop accusations and complaints from Moira, he'd planned on visiting his room and catching up on some much-needed sleep, but he suspected he was far too wound up to fall asleep immediately, especially since the morning sun would be shining in through his window.  Instead, he stopped at the room next door and knocked.

"Bobby?" he asked when there was no immediate response.  "Are you awake, or willing to attain that state?  I wondered if I could bother you for a time…"  He heard some indistinct sounds from within, lending credence to his belief that Bobby was, in fact, inside, and added plaintively, "Please, Bobby?  After listening to recriminations from Jean and tirades from Moira, I would welcome some friendly conversation."

"Yeah, ok already, come on in," he heard Bobby say finally as he unlocked the door and opened it.  Hank had only a second to wonder why Bobby had had the door locked when he saw the answer; Kitty, clad in one of Bobby's t-shirts, a blanket covering her legs, her hair still tousled from sleep.  

"G'morning, Hank," she said, smiling, and he realized his jaw was hanging open.

"I – uh, that is, I'm sorry…"

"Mark this day on the calendar, Kit – Hank's finally at a loss for words," Bobby quipped, patting Hank on the shoulder.  "What's up?  Come on in, sit down," he added, gesturing to the table near the foot of the bed, and pulling up a chair there himself.  "It's ok – we were more or less awake anyway, which makes your timing a hell of a lot better than most of the mansion's."

Still amazed by the scene he'd walked into, Hank shook he head.  "No, it isn't important.  I simply wanted to vent; Moira appears to have inadvertently misplaced a potentially dangerous and certainly invaluable sample she brought with her from Muir Island for my further analysis.  No doubt she left it in Muir; I know I don't have it, despite her accusations."

Kitty laughed.  "Yeah, Moira can really go off the handle, especially if she thinks there IS a chance that she's responsible and is trying to pass the buck.  I remember one time she had everyone in Excalibur tearing apart Muir Island for her missing computer disks, which she insisted someone walked off with.  They turned up in her disk-case, misfiled.  But you should know better than to take Moira's tirades seriously; she always gets crabby when she's tired.  "

"No doubt you're correct," he said smiling, and walked to the door, then turned back to face Bobby and Kitty.  "I apologize again for the interruption," he said as he opened the door.  

Walking down the hallway, he paused for a moment and grinned.  If nothing positive was happening in his life, at least Bobby appeared to be having a good week.

******************************

"Well, THAT was certainly an interesting wake-up call," Bobby was saying as he came back to the bed and plopped down next to Kitty, who smiled and lay back down as well.

She was wearing the t-shirt he'd worn the day before; it had been the first thing at hand when Hank had knocked on the door and she'd quickly thrown it on while he'd pulled on his jeans, which had also been lying next to the bed.  She briefly considered pulling it back off but decided against it; she'd been more bold than she was accustomed to being the night before.  If Bobby wanted it off, he was more than welcome to make the first move.

Instead, he turned and looked at her, smiling, but with a serious look in his eyes.  "Kitty…" he began saying, then paused.  "I just wanted to tell you – to thank you, I guess – for last night.  You're incredible," he added, lightly brushing her face with his fingers, and she felt her face grow warm and knew she was blushing.  "I've been wanting this since the day I met you, but I wasn't sure.  I mean, I just didn't want to rush things.  Not that I'm saying we did," he added quickly, grabbing her arm as she began to sit up.  "Don't get me wrong – I'm not complaining.  Anything but!  But there's something I wanted to talk about, first…"

"Don't worry about it, Bobby," she said, still irritated but mostly at herself.  Had she rushed things?  It was hard to remember they'd only known each other for about a week; it seemed so much longer, mostly, she supposed, because so much had happened in that time.  And, she had to admit, the idea of having sex with Bobby without having to worry about accidentally turning intangible had sounded really attractive, especially after her conversation with Rogue had brought it to the front of her mind.  But it really hadn't been about that, and she knew it.  Despite her fears, despite her refusal to admit it to herself, she'd fallen in love with Bobby Drake.  She felt tears form in her eyes, and quickly blinked them away.  

"Kitty?  I didn't mean…"

"No, you're right, this was a mistake," she said, getting up and grabbing her clothes off the floor.  "I didn't think things through – I just knew I wanted this, and figured you did too.  I'm sorry…" she added, as she hurried to the door.

"Damn it, Kitty, that isn't what I meant!" Bobby said, jumping out of bed and grabbing her arm.  "I DID want this, you know I did.  I just wanted to be sure it was for the right reasons…"

"Yeah, well, maybe it wasn't, ok?" she replied irritably without looking at him, fighting to keep both her temper in check and her tears from flowing, and knowing she was failing miserably.  "Maybe I wouldn't have rushed things if I hadn't known we'd probably be mutants again really soon."

"What do you mean?  Oh shit, did Rogue tell you?  I wanted to tell you – I tried to," Bobby stammered.  "Is that was this was all about?  You felt sorry for me?"

"No," Kitty replied angrily, trying to pull her arm out of his grip, and not succeeding.  She knew she could force the issue; she doubted Bobby was her equal in the martial arts, but despite her bruised feelings she didn't want to hurt him.  Or at least, not much.  "Is that what you think of me?  Oh, never mind - it doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters!" Bobby said with so much pain in his voice that she turned back to look at him.  "Damn it, Kitty, at least let me explain!  Last night – well, last night was probably the best night of my life!  Don't leave, please?  At least listen to me first, ok?"

"I'm listening," she said, turning all the way around to face him.  He let go of her arm, and she stood, her arms crossed in front of her, refusing to meet his eyes.  He sighed, and continued.

"Kitty, I don't know how much Rogue told you about – well, about my relationship with Opal.  It was a disaster waiting to happen, anyway, but my being a mutant made it that much worse.  She wanted to date Bobby Drake, but she didn't want to deal with the fact that Bobby Drake was also the Iceman.  She didn't like the danger, she didn't like the reminder that her OWN family wasn't quite normal, and she didn't want to deal with the whole thing.  And she didn't have much choice. 

"I was wearing a power-inhibitor then, did you know that?  Had a trip to Asgard that – well, my powers were kinda out of control, to make a long story short.  The Right captured me not long after that, and put a belt on me that was supposed to inhibit my powers.  All it did was give me back the control I'd lost.  So I kept it – was wearing it 24/7 in fact, under my street clothes when necessary, which wasn't easy since it was about the size of a WWF championship belt.  Just so I'd keep from freezing anyone when my emotions got the least bit out of control."

"Bobby, I –" Kitty tried to interject, but he cut her off.

"You said you'd listen.  Please?" he pleaded.  She nodded, and he continued.  "So anyway, I met Opal not too long after that.  We dated a while, and when we finally went back to her place one night, I didn't give any thought to my powers, or the affect they'd have on anything.  I mean, when Lorna and I dated, it hadn't been an issue, but that was before my power enhancement.  I found out about the difference soon enough, though," he said, grimacing.  "Needless to say, it was our last date.  A case of I called, but her answering machine was working overtime, you know?  The next time I saw her was when she was under attack by the Phalanx.  She told me she didn't want to see me again.  Called me a lot of other things, too," he remembered, rolling his eyes.

"Anyway, I figured that was it.  I mean, who'd want to date a human icicle with performance issues?  But when we all got de-mutantized, it seemed like another chance.  And then I met you," he said with such warmth and sincerity that Kitty felt her heart melt a little.  "And you were gorgeous, and brilliant, and funny, and I wanted you so much it hurt.  But I didn't want to screw it up again, can you understand that?"

"Better than you might imagine," she said, thinking of her own list of failed relationships.

"And I knew I had to tell you, especially after things started rolling with the plans to shut down the High Evolutionary's setup, but I didn't want you to feel any pressure, and it was easier just to pretend we had all the time in the world, which we do I guess, but it won't ever be the same…"  Bobby was babbling by this point, and Kitty finally understood what he was trying to say, and realized it was much the same thing Rogue had been saying the other night.

"You wanted to make love because we wanted to, not just because we had the opportunity," she said, dropping her arms to her sides, and Bobby looked relieved.

"Yeah," he said, taking a deep breath.  "And I did want to, Kitty.  Not just because we could, but because I love you.  That's what I was trying to say before.  And I wouldn't change anything that happened last night.  But…"

"Bobby?"

"What?"

"No buts, ok?" she said, pressing her finger to his lips.  "We're both mutants, we'll handle any 'problems' when and if we have to.  Besides, I can handle a little cold, if you," she paused and lowered her voice, "can handle me dropping through the bed if I lose control."  She saw his eyes widen, and could see he was trying to keep from laughing.  She mock-glared at him for a second, then smiled, knowing that things were going to be ok after all.  Then she took a deep breath, and mustering her courage, continued.

"Besides, I did want to.  Not because I felt sorry for you, or because I didn't want to miss the opportunity.  But because I love you too."

**********************************

An hour or so later, Bobby and Kitty reluctantly dragged themselves out of bed.

"So, what's on your agenda for the day?" Bobby asked as he gathered his shower stuff together.

"Hmm? Kitty asked, standing up and looking around the floor, and Bobby realized she'd been peering under the bed, trying to find her missing shoe.  "Oh, I've got a planning meeting with Seth and Douglock, and the big one this afternoon with everyone.  You?"

"Just the big one, unless Jean squeezes me into her schedule before that," he shrugged.  "She wants to go over some stuff, but she's pretty well booked up with the Neo." He walked over to where Kitty was still looking for missing articles of clothing, her back turned to him, and wrapped his arms around her from behind.  "Sure you can't skip out?" he joked.  

"Nah, if I'm not there Seth'll talk Douglock into infecting all the satellites world-wide with a critical virus, just to see what would happen," Kitty answered, laughing as she broke free of his embrace.  "But I'll see you at the meeting later, ok?" she said, turning around and kissing him soundly before picking up the rest of her clothes from his bed and walking toward the door.

"Are you going out like that?" he asked, gesturing at his t-shirt that she was once again wearing, inwardly pleased that she wasn't trying to hide what had happened between them.

"I kinda doubt anyone'll be surprised," she responded lightly, shrugging.  She turned to look at him, and he laughed at the glint of devilishness in her eyes.  "Besides, might as well feed the mansion gossip-mill, right?"  

"I'm in favor," he replied in the same vein.  "Want me to walk you back to your room?" he offered, dropping the bathrobe he'd been starting to put on and standing there in his shorts, his eyebrows raised.  She laughed, but shook her head.

"No, I think I can manage," she replied as he snapped his fingers, feigning disappointment.  He did walk her to the door, however, and opened it for her.  

"See you later," he said, and kissed her goodbye.  He stood in the doorway, watching her walk down the hallway until she turned the corner, but just as he was about to go back in the door next to his opened, and Hank peeked out.

"I assume your companion has made her departure?" Hank said, his eyebrows raised.  

"What, are you telepathic now?" Bobby asked.

"No, not at all," Hank assured him.  "But you may have forgotten, or perhaps never realized, just how thin the wall between our respective domiciles is."

Bobby could feel his face redden, and knew Hank was aware of it as well as the latter began laughing, then walked over and clapped Bobby on the shoulder.  "I was joking, Bobby, though I did hear your door open, and made my assumptions based on your presence in the hallway.  In all actuality, I was just about to adjourn to the kitchen; would you care to join me?  Due to circumstances largely beyond the control of either of us, we've scarcely had opportunity to talk during your visit."

Bobby thought about it for a moment, then nodded.  "Just let me catch a quick shower and I'll join you," he promised.  Hank nodded, and Bobby went back into his room to grab his shower kit.

He whistled on his way to the bathroom, and was only slightly taken aback by Piotr's presence in the shower area.  Piotr glared at him, and Bobby unconsciously braced himself for a confrontation, but when Warren entered as well he just turned and stormed out of the bathroom.  Bobby breathed a sigh of relief.  He hadn't considered Kurt's warning the night before; he and Kitty probably should have gone back to her room, or better still, found somewhere else to spend the night.  At least Piotr had apparently been in the shower when Kitty'd left his room this morning.  

In the shower, he gave some thought as to the afternoon's meeting between the X-Men and the Neo, where the plans for the "attack" were to be presented.  He still wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of being sent as an "ambassador", even though he knew a team of the X-Men and the Neo would be there as well.  It was a far cry from any role he'd played on any team he'd been with before, and truth be told, he was scared.  He wondered how the other X-Men would take the news.

In the meantime, though, he had some time on his hands.  He reflected on the constructive things he could do with that time; he could worry about the upcoming confrontation with the High Evolutionary, or analyze some more of the data on the Neo, or even visit the Danger Room for a workout.  None of them sounded attractive, and with a sudden burst of rebellion against his newfound maturity, he decided he was taking a vacation day.  Or a half day, he had to concede, as he had to be at the meeting that afternoon.  After all, that's why he had come to visit, wasn't it?  

So he had a leisurely brunch with Hank, chatting about his friend's research, his own accounting business, and everything else that was going in their lives.  He'd feigned ignorance when Hank confided in him about the lethal cure to Legacy, but chuckled along with him when Hank described Moira's reaction to her "missing" sample, which Hank still insisted she must have left behind at Muir.  When he left the kitchen, he bumped into Rogue, and they'd played some one-on-one basketball (she'd won) before being ambushed by Cailin and Diego, who'd somehow (he suspected Jubilee's involvement) gotten hold of some SuperSoakers.   He'd finally grabbed one with each arm and tried to hold them still while Rogue turned the hose on all three of them, reflecting that he, at least, couldn't get any wetter than he already was.  Heading back upstairs, he'd run into Jubilee, and was dragged into her room, still dripping, and treated to a detailed description of every conversation she'd had with Seth to date.  After he finally managed to assure her that it did sound as if Seth liked her, he'd finally dripped his way back to his room, where he began drying off and getting ready to change his clothes for the meeting.

Humming to himself, he decided that aside from the brief misunderstanding with Kitty this morning, it had been a really good day thus far.  All in all, it had seemed like a typical vacation with the X-Men, the kind he'd been planning when he'd first arrived the week before.

Well, aside from the way it had started off.  But he really wasn't complaining about how that had turned out.

He grinned, pulling a comb through his hair, and looked at his reflection in the mirror, trying to puzzle out exactly what it was Kitty saw in him.  Shaking his head, he gave it up as a lost cause – he only hoped her sanity didn't return any time soon.  

"She loves me," he thought to himself, still amazed.

For the first time in a long time, he actually considered returning to the X-Men, when and if they were successful in regaining their powers.  Things here had changed; he was really enjoying the new respect he was receiving from his teammates, and it would be good to be with Kitty…he really didn't like the idea of being away from her just as their relationship was beginning to get serious.  He thought about it for a couple of minutes, as he collected the papers he wanted to take with him to the "big meeting".  Finally, he shook his head.  He'd made a life for himself outside the X-Madhouse, and while he would always be there for his friends if they called, he had no real desire to put on spandex full time again.  Not even for Kitty.  If their relationship was going to last, they were going to have to work out the long-distance aspects.

"Or," a tiny voice in his head whispered, "you could ask her to move in with you."

He was so surprised by the idea that he nearly dropped the papers he'd gathered, and had to scramble to catch them all before they fell to the floor.  

"It's too soon," he told himself firmly.  "We've known each other all of what? A week?"  But the idea was too attractive to dismiss altogether, and he found himself looking forward to moving into the small apartment that would be his at the beginning of the month, his credit check and application having been approved just before he went on vacation.

Humming, Bobby set off to the meeting, papers in hand.

******************************

When Kitty entered the conference room, she scanned the crowd of people mulling around for Bobby, and was disappointed to see he wasn't there yet.  Kurt caught her eye and grinned, raising the glass he was holding in a silent toast, and she suspected the mansion gossip mill had quickly percolated the most recent update to her and Bobby's relationship.  She smiled back, and began making her way through the throng to join him when she was stopped by a young blond woman.  It took her a moment to recognize her as Amarantha, since she'd never seen her without face paint before, but the resemblance to Cailin quickly confirmed her initial impression.

"Excuse me, Katherine?  Do you have a moment?" Amarantha asked.

"Sure, and it's Kitty," she replied, as they walked companionably toward the side of the room.

"I was just wondering about something.  I'm unfamiliar with your customs, but Seth has spoken of you often, even before our people met, and I feel as if I know you.  Jubilee is your sister?"

"Well, not really," Kitty answered, laughing.  "But we're both informally Logan's 'daughters', so we tend to call each other that.  Why do you ask?"

"I was curious as to what her intentions were with regards to my brother," Amarantha said seriously.  "Is she seeking an informal alliance, or something more permanent?  I ask," she continued quickly as Kitty stood dumbfounded, "not as an insult to your sister, but as my brother's nearest kinswoman.  Unlike many of the Neo, I have no real prejudice against spikes, but I am, as I said, unfamiliar with your ways, just as you are with ours.  Among our people, if she were planning a formal relationship, she would discuss it with me before approaching Seth; I'm unsure if the same rules apply among spikes."

"Planning a formal…" Kitty stuttered, still in shock.  "Doesn't Seth have a say in it, then?"

"Of course," Amarantha said, looking equally surprised.  "He can accept or reject her proposal, whichever he prefers!  But it would be my decision as to whether or not the proposal could be made.  And yours, of course, unless Jubilee's mother is still living."

"Oh, umm, I see," Kitty replied.  "Well, I haven't discussed it with her, but I don't think Jubilee is looking for a permanent relationship at this point.  If you'd like, I can ask her…"

"When it's convenient," Amarantha assured her, then eyed Kitty curiously.  "I trust I haven't offended you?  I realize Seth has been infatuated with you for some time, but it didn't sound as if you returned his interest, and you seem to be – attached – in any case."

"Oh no," Kitty quickly reassured her.  "That is yes, I am attached, and no, you didn't offend me.  You did take me by surprise – we do things somewhat differently.  I'm curious, though – why would you ask me rather than Logan?"

She had to keep from laughing at the astonished look that appeared on Amarantha's face.  "Why would I ask Logan?  You're her nearest female relative, as I understand it, even if it is only by fosterage.  Her espousement would be your concern, not his, at least until he formalizes his own union with Jean.  Even then, I would be speaking with her, not him.

Kitty had a mental image of Jubilee's reaction to the idea that Jean OR Kitty had a say in who she married, and chuckled.  "Don't worry, I'll talk to Jubilee about it as soon as I get a chance," she promised.  She was definitely going to enjoy this.

"Thank you," Amarantha replied, and the two made small talk for a few minutes until Kitty saw Jean waving to her from across the room.

"If you'll excuse me," she said, and at Amarantha's nod she made her way over to Jean.  As she got closer, she saw that Jean's face was drawn.  "What's wrong?" she asked, glancing around for Logan and not seeing him.

"I just wanted you to know, Logan's down in the medlab," Jean replied, then quickly continued.  "Don't worry – Hank and Moira just want to run some tests.  He was showing Jaeger the Danger Room when the two decided a match was in order," she added, rolling her eyes, "and apparently overdid it.  Hank says there's no reason to believe that he won't be just fine in an hour or so.  Or at least as fine as he was," she corrected herself as Kitty looked skeptical.

"Maybe I should go check on him," Kitty offered.

"I wouldn't, not right now," Jean protested, rolling her eyes.  "As I said, they're running some tests.  Give him an audience, and he'll be even less cooperative than usual."

"Hmm, good point," Kitty conceded.  "You're sure he's ok?"

"For now," Jean replied, a weak smile on her face.  "I saw you talking to Amarantha – did you learn anything interesting?"

"You could say that." Kitty relayed the jist of their conversation, and before she finished Jean was laughing so hard tears were forming in her eyes.  "So, are you going to give her permission to propose?" she asked finally as she unsuccessfully attempted to catch her breath.

"I haven't decided yet," Kitty said haughtily, then looked at Jean speculatively.  "You know, as Logan's closest known female relative, I suppose under the Neo's conventions YOU should be asking my permission to marry him."

Jean laughed, and shook her head.  "Well you know, we are degenerate spikes, after all.  And he asked me, which I suppose is completely against all of their rules.  I'd give a lot to see Jubilee's reaction when you tell her, though.  She paused as she stood on her tiptoes, eyeing the entrance.  "Bobby's here," she said, waving him over.  "I think that's everyone.  Want to see if you can start getting everyone to take a seat?  And try to get them to mix up – I really don't want the table split half X-Men, half Neo.  This is going to be difficult enough without everyone taking sides right from the start."  
  
"I'll see what I can do," Kitty promised, and walked off to meet Bobby, pausing for a moment here and there to relay Jean's message.  She saw Moira enter the room and waved, but could tell from the expression on the older woman's face that she wasn't there with any bad news.  As she began walking toward her to get an update on Logan's condition, she saw Bobby join her.  Still too far away to hear what was being said, she could tell from her expression that Bobby had made a joke at Moira's expense, and grinned when she saw Moira mock-punch his arm.  She was still watching them when she saw Piotr walk up behind Bobby and grab his arm with one hand.  She began running forward even as Bobby turned to see who had stopped him, and heard Piotr say something angrily as Bobby tried unsuccessfully to shake off his grip.  Time seemed to slow as she saw Piotr pull his other hand from his pocket, something metal glinting in the artificial light.

"Noooo," she screamed as she threw herself on Piotr's arm, feeling something sharp scrape across her skin.  Furiously, he threw her down and to the side with such force that she fell, her head slamming into the ceramic tiled floor.

"Katya!" Piotr shouted, and she saw him stare at her with disbelief as everyone else began to realize that something had happened and began to gather around.  "Why did you stop me?  I only wanted to save you.  Did you think I didn't hear what he did to you?  I know you would have never consented to being with him, I know you've always loved me…"  His voice trailed off as he saw the blood on Kitty's arm, and the blood drained from his face.

"Kitty, are you ok?" Bobby asked, rushing over and pulling crouching down next to her.  "You're bleeding!  What the hell did you cut her with?" he accused Piotr.

Kitty felt the room begin spinning, and the voices around her became fainter as she struggled to retain consciousness.

"Not her, never her, it was supposed to be you, you could have made amends for what you did to her, for what you did to Illyana…" Piotr said, his voice trailing off as he stared at Kitty's arm.  

"Illyana?  What'd I do to Illyana?" Bobby asked, and Kitty was glad for his arms around her, giving her something solid to hold onto.  It would figure that she would hit her head in just the same area she'd injured earlier in the week; she speculated that Hank had jinxed her when he'd warned her against doing just that.  Everything was beginning to look out-of-focus, and she gripped Bobby's arm, trying to get his attention.

"You brought her here," Piotr snarled.  "I read the files this morning, looking for information that would prove to Katya you were unfit to associate with.  You saved Illyana from Arcade and brought her here, where her life was torn apart, where she was corrupted by demons and exposed to the Legacy virus she died of.  And then you stand there with her," he added, gesturing at Moira, "and have the gall to joke about the missing sample of the cure?  YOU killed Illyana, and now you return and endanger Katya as well!"

"Seems to me the only one who's endangering her is you," Bobby replied, turning his back on Piotr and focusing his attention on Kitty.  "It's ok, Moira's here, we'll get it looked at, you're going to be fine" she heard him saying, but she was still trying to watch Piotr, positive that he was going to attack Bobby from behind.

Instead, she saw him stare at Bobby, as if unable to believe what he had said, and then turn his eyes on her.  Nodding, Piotr plunged the object he was holding into his own arm, letting it hang there, and Kitty saw with blurred vision that it was a syringe.

"Damn it, Piotr, what have you done!" Kitty heard Moira exclaim as she collapsed into Bobby's arms.  She heard nothing more.


	26. Chapter 26

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel,. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!  

I'm coming up on the end of the story, so here's a survey question for all of you who are reading but not reviewing – should I write a sequel?  Let me know – it'll depend on the response I get…

Just a Couple of Kids, After All…

Chapter 26

"Damn it, Piotr, what have you done!" Bobby heard Moira shout as he realized that Kitty was unconscious.  He bent over her, realizing with a sense of sick déjà vu that her head was once again bleeding, and remembered Hank's warning that she take it easy and not aggravate the previous injury.  

"Oh my God," he said, running his hand through her hair and staring at it as he pulled it back and realized it was covered with blood.  "Moira, get over here!"

"What have I done?" Piotr replied angrily.  "I've saved us all!  I heard about the meeting with these people, who didn't?  They wanted him," he added, gesturing in Bobby's direction, "to talk the High Evolutionary into changing our people back into mutants.  Mutants, destined to fight, destined to die like my little Snowflake – I did what I had to do to save Katya, to save us all…and I did it right this time, Moira, don't you understand?  I was doing it right," he corrected, pointedly not looking at Kitty.  "  

"I'll get to you later," Moira asserted, pushing her way through the crowd to Kitty's side.  "Move out of the way, Bobby," she added as she pushed him aside so she could get to Kitty.  Around him, he could hear the X-Men beginning to react to what they had seen.  He felt rather than saw Rogue come up behind him and pull at him to stand up, and barely noticed Cailin rushing up and dropping to her knees beside Moira.  

"What are you talking about, Piotr?" Storm asked as she pushed her way past a couple of Neo to the front of the crowd.  "What has happened – Kitten!" she gasped, seeing Kitty's unconscious form on the floor.  "What happened here?" she demanded of no one in particular.

"Yes, Piotr, what are you talking about?  What danger was Kitty in?" Jean asked, glaring at him, then staring wide-eyed as she saw the syringe hanging from his arm.  "And what have you done to yourself?  That isn't…" she said, her face growing pale.  Bobby just stood, still staring, frozen by what he had witnessed far more surely than he'd ever been by the ice he'd been able to form around him.

Instead of answering her, Piotr addressed Kurt, who had made his way to the front of the crowd as well.  "The last time I had to save Katya from danger, you accused me of hiding in the shadows, and I knew that I'd made a mistake.  You were right; if I had attacked Wisdom when others were present, I would have had witnesses; you wouldn't have questioned my actions, my motives, you would have SEEN that I was justified in what I did.  I wasn't going to make that mistake again."

"What're ya talkin' about, Petey?  What attack on Wisdom?  And what happened to Kit?" Rogue asked behind him as Bobby watched Moira check Kitty's vitals, but Piotr ignored her completely and kept talking to Kurt.  

"This time it was even more important to have witnesses, so that you would see that I acted for the good of us all.  And so that they," he gestured widely to include the Neo, who had largely stayed in the background, and the syringe fell unheeded to the floor, "would know that we would do anything to protect our own people.  They make much of the deaths of their family, but what about our families?  What about my Illyana, who died because of this mutant curse?  I had to show them we would do anything, risk anything to keep that from happening to someone else.  But…she got in the way, Kurt.  She didn't understand – why didn't she understand I just wanted to save her?" he asked Kurt pleadingly.  "I loved her, tovarish, why couldn't she understand that?"

"Maybe because you just tried to kill her," Bobby said, his eyes blazing in contrast to the icy chill in his chest.  He realized the implications of what Piotr had done, though he saw his teammates still looked confused.  His hands formed fists, and he took a step forward, shrugging off Rogue's hand on his shoulder.  "And maybe you succeeded, you crazy son of a –"

"Not now, Bobby," Warren said, grabbing his arm.  "Act like an adult for once," he continued, glaring condescendingly at Piotr, who was still begging Kurt to make Kitty understand.  "I'd say she needs you more than he does, assuming you actually do care about her and it isn't just an act so you can get laid..."

"What the hell do you care, Warren?" Bobby said, breaking free of his grip and flipping around.  "You saw what happened – the lunatic may have killed her, trying to kill me.  If Kitty hadn't – but now she's –"

"She's nae dead, Bobby," Moira interjected as she stood up and turned to face him.  "But we'll need to get her to the med lab at once and into an inhibitor collar, just in case."

"An inhibitor collar?" Betsy questioned.  "Whatever for?"

"Do ye nae understand?  That syringe Piotr scraped her with, the one he went ahead and stabbed himself with – it contained the sample I brought along for Hank's analysis.  The cure for the Legacy Virus.  I dinnae know if there was any on the needle when it scraped Kitty," Moira added, her eyes hard, "but I'm nae takin' any chances.  Given that her natural state is to be intangible, if for any reason those damned satellites were to go offline it would automatically trigger the cure if there is any in her bloodstream.  Can someone carry her to the lab?" she asked, looking at the assembled crowd.

"I've got her," Bobby said, pushing his way past a protesting Warren and picking Kitty up.  He had a flashback to the last time he'd carried her like this, just a few days before, and remembered how she'd wrapped her arms around his neck, her brown eyes twinkling with laughter.  Now her body was dead weight and her eyes were closed.  He closed his own for a moment, fighting to keep himself together, and carried Kitty out of the conference room with Moira and Cailin bustling along behind.

*************************

"Kurt, Warren, please take Piotr to one of the holding cells," Jean said, pushing her hair back from her face with her hand.  "I believe an inhibitor collar would also be in order, just in case.  Domina, I think it's rather obvious that the meeting is not going to take place this afternoon; I'll talk to you later about rescheduling."  She couldn't really understand what had happened.  She hadn't seen it, having been across the room answering the odd questions Arakasi was asking about Rogue's background when the incident had occurred.  Her back had been toward the area in question, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't make much sense even if she had seen everything.  There were obviously some pieces of the puzzle missing, and she meant to get to the bottom of it.  
  
"That's all?" Domina asked her with disbelief, and Jean, who'd been about to follow Kurt, Warren, and Piotr out of the room turned to look at her.  Of the Neo, only she and Jaeger had chosen not to forego the elaborate face paint this afternoon, and Jean cursed the difficulty she had reading their expressions behind the paint.  "The man attempted to kill not one but two of your teammates before witnesses, and you simply lock him up?  I cannot believe this!  Do you spikes not look after your own?"

"Of course we do," Jean said irritably, wondering once again why she'd agreed to accept the leadership of the X-Men after Scott's death.  "After we've gathered all the relevant information we'll take appropriate action.  Perhaps you don't realize, Domina, but he himself has signed his own death sentence unless Hank and Moira can find a way to nullify the Legacy cure."

"Why would they bother?" Domina asked harshly.  "It would seem a perfect solution to a number of problems; allow the lunatic to die as he wished, and you'll not only be rid of him but the Legacy virus as well."

Jean stared at her for a moment, then shook her head firmly.  "I'm not going to debate this with you, Domina.  This is a private matter among the X-Men.  We will decide how it is to be handled.  The Neo are welcome to stay until the meeting can be rescheduled, but –"

"Hey, sorry we're late!" Jubilee half-shouted as she dragged Seth into the room with her, then paused and looked around at the X-Men and Neo remaining in the room, all of whom were muttering amongst themselves as their leaders squared off.  Jean breathed a sigh of relief.  While this wasn't how she'd have preferred Jubilee to find out about the situation, the interruption was perfectly timed.  "Umm, did we come in at a bad time, guys?  What's going on?"

"Jubes, there's been kind of an accident…" Rogue began hesitantly, but Domina interrupted.

"That," she nearly spat, "was no accident.  As Katherine's sister, she certainly has the right to know what occurred here."

Jean had barely opened her mouth to respond when she was cut off by Jubilee.

"Whatdya mean?" she asked, looking around the room.  "Where is Kat?  And Bobby?  And Wolvie?"  Her voice grew higher and higher in pitch as she listed the missing people, and Jean could see her eyes widen with alarm.  "I think somebody's gonna tell me what's going on and fast, people!"

"Jubilee, calm down," Jean said before Jubilee could launch into a full-fledged tantrum.  Taking the opportunity to exit the room, she took Jubilee by the arm and led her into the hallway, Seth trailing behind them.  Once they were outside, Jubilee brushed Jean's hand away and turned to face her.

"Ok, Jean – you used me to get an exit scene and I know it.  Now what's going on?  Where's Wolvie?  And what happened to Kat?  Is she ok?"

"Logan's fine," Jean reassured her as she saw Seth come up behind Jubilee and lay his hand on her shoulder.  Remembering what Kitty had told her about the Neo's "dating" customs, she would have smiled if she hadn't been preoccupied with the current crisis.  Instead, she raised her hand to silence Jubilee, who had opened her mouth to demand more info.  "He's in the medlab – Hank's just running a few tests."

"Bet he's loving that," Jubilee replied, rolling her eyes.  "Anyway, you're avoiding the real question.  Where's Kitty, Jean?  Ms. Face Paint in there made it sound like something pretty drastic happened…"

Sighing, Jean relayed what little she knew of the situation.  Jubilee just stared at her, her face gradually shifting from red to white as Jean recounted the chain of events, but when Jean finished Jubilee just turned and ran down the hallway toward the med lab.  Jean was left facing Seth, who was managing to look both confused and angry at the same time.

"So tell me, Jean, what do you plan to do about this?" he demanded.

Jean sighed and shook her head.  "I'm sorry, Seth, but I don't really see that that's any of your concern," she answered, wishing despite the advantages of the alliance that the Neo would just disappear and leave her alone.

"That's where you're wrong," he corrected her in a tone that would tolerate no argument.  "Aside from our alliance, which has not yet been formalized, Kitty is my friend.  That is not something I take lightly, and there are few among your people I would name such.  The fact that I sought a closer relationship with her is irrelevant; that was her decision to make, and I can't say she's chosen badly in Bobby.  She is also," he added as Jean attempted to interrupt, "Jubilee's sister, which makes my obligation even more clear.  I know our ways differ from yours - I study the flats and spikes after all, not just their technology - and I understand that you find yourself in a far more difficult position than you would if you were amongst the Neo.  But I warn you, Phoenix," and Jean startled a bit at the use of her code name, "if Kitty dies, and the offender goes unpunished, I will take matters into my own hands.  And as Kitty and Bobby have earned Domina's respect, the Neo will be behind me."  That said, he turned and walked down the hallway in the direction Jubilee had gone.

"As if I didn't have enough problems," Jean said, resting her hand on her abdomen where she imagined she was beginning to detect a miniscule bulge.  She paused a minute longer to collect herself, and began the trek down the hallway to the medlab as well.

*********************************

Bobby leaned disregarded against the wall outside the medlab.  As soon as he'd laid Kitty down on the bed, he'd been unceremoniously pushed out of the way by Moira, who was quickly joined by Hank.  When he'd tried to reinsert himself, Hank had less forcibly but no less insistently requested that he move out of the way.  So he had.  It was small consolation that they evicted Cailin as well despite her protests; she'd attempted to talk to him for a minute, but had left when he didn't reply.  Jubilee's demands for an explanation and Jean's inquiries on Kitty's condition had received similar responses, and they'd finally left him alone and went into the room next door to talk with Logan.

He'd watched as Logan came out with Jean and Jubilee in tow, pounding on the medlab door and demanding to see Kitty.  It had added insult to injury when Hank had let him in, and he'd heard Logan demanding answers before Hank had shut the door once again.

So now he was just standing, replaying the events in the conference room in his mind, trying to figure out what he could have done differently.  Kurt's warning provided the audio for the scene, and he knew he should have been more careful, should have protected Kitty rather than the other way around.  He was considering how it was all his fault when he felt a tap on his shoulder and blinked, Logan's face suddenly having inserted itself in front of his eyes.  Confronted by the one person he KNEW he couldn't just ignore, he settled for just looking at him and waiting for the older man to speak.  He didn't have to wait long.

"So this is how you take care of my Kit," Logan growled, and Bobby just shrugged.

"Look, I KNOW it should be me lying in there, not her…" he started, and was surprised to see Logan shake his head.

"It woulda killed her," Logan disagreed.  Bobby just stared at him.  "If Piotr had killed you, it woulda killed her far faster than the Legacy cure ever could.  She's seen far too much death already.  Besides, from what I hear, it wasn't your fault."  
  
"Then what are you talking about?" Bobby asked, thoroughly confused.  He'd more than half expected Logan to threaten his life for having allowed Kitty to be hurt; this sudden reversal of his expectations confused him.

"I'm talkin' about you standing out here blaming yourself.  Kit made her choice, and she'll have to live with it.  So will you, and you've probably got the harder part, 'cause it wasn't your choice.  But standing out her feeling sorry for yourself ain't gonna help Kit.  If you're half the man she claims you are, you'll get over it quick and start thinkin' about her."

Before Bobby could think of a reply, the medlab door opened and Hank came out.  Bobby turned away from Logan immediately and began asking questions, which Hank countered by holding up his hand.

 "Bobby, I ventured out of the medlab to inform you that Kitty is requesting your presence."

"She's conscious?" Bobby asked hopefully, a wave of relief rushing over him.

"Well, that or she is talking in her sleep," Hank qualified, then grinned.  "But she appears to be awake, if somewhat disoriented."

"Disoriented?" Logan replied, and Bobby could hear the concern in his voice.

"She seems to have experienced some memory loss," Hank replied.  "It's perfectly normal, I assure you.  As she appears to remember you, I would speculate that it is not too intensive, given the relatively short duration of your relationship thus far.  She wishes to know what happened, though, and I thought it best for you to inform her."

"Uh, ok," Bobby said and turned to enter the room, but Logan stopped him. 

"Remember what I said, Drake."

"I will," Bobby promised, squaring his shoulders and following Hank into the room.  He stopped just inside the door, however, when he saw Kitty lying on the hospital bed.

Her face was pale, he noticed, and someone had wrapped a bandage around her head, a slight bulge on the side revealing a pad of some sort underneath.  Suddenly, he didn't know what to say, and just stood there, unspeaking.  But she smiled when she saw him, and the corners of his mouth crept up as well.

Hank noticed his reaction, and walked over to Kitty's bedside.  "My fair Katherine, I believe I have found the gentleman you requested, but I fear he may be in far greater need for medical attention than you.  He appears to be in something of a state of shock."

"I'm fine," Bobby retorted, walking over to Kitty's side and taking her hand.  "Hi Kit.  How're you feeling?"

"Awful," she admitted, but she smiled again.  "But Hank gave me something for the headache, so I've just got to hold out until it kicks in.  At least the room isn't spinning quite as much anymore.  Are you ok?" she asked, squeezing his hand.

"I'll leave you two to talk," Hank said, withdrawing quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Bobby lied once Hank left, having difficulty meeting Kitty's eyes. 

"Liar," Kitty retorted, but she smiled.  "What happened?  I asked Hank and Moira, but neither would tell me anything."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Bobby asked, trying to buy some time with Kitty before having to tell her how she'd been injured.

"Hmm.  I was drinking with Rogue – I think we got pretty drunk.  No, I'm sure we got pretty drunk.  Jean came in when we were singing that Cow in the Road song-"

"The what?" Bobby asked, wondering if he should call for Hank and let him know Kitty wasn't making much sense.

"You know, that one Rogue likes – I don't know the real name of it.  She always calls it the Cow in the Road song."

"Oh," Bobby said, relieved as he remembered the lyrics of a song Rogue had played repeatedly during their road trip.  "What else?" 

"I'm not sure, it gets fuzzy after that.  Jean went out, I think, and then you and Remy came in with a bunch of groceries.  Please tell me I didn't fall off the chair and give myself a concussion?" she pleaded.

"Nah.  Well, you did fall off a chair, but I caught you," Bobby assured her.  He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as Kitty spoke, realizing she didn't remember the previous night.  He debated whether or not he should tell her, and what he could possibly say about it without blushing, stammering, or otherwise embarrassing himself.

"I think so," she said, rubbing her forehead.  "Let's see – got drunk, sung, fell off the chair, went to bed and had wild, passionate sex with you…" Bobby was barely listening, still debating what if anything he should tell Kitty, when her last words finally sunk in and he realized she was stifling a laugh.

"Oh, that was cruel," he said, wagging his finger at her.  

"It just came back to me when I was talking," she said, shrugging as best she could while lying down, then grinned.  "Since I don't remember anything else from that day, I guess it was memorable."

"You guess?" Bobby joked incredulously, clapping his hand to his chest.  "You wound me.  I may never recover."

"Oh, I think you will," she quipped, but then her tone turned serious.  "Unless I kill you for not telling me what's going on.  If I didn't fall of the chair, what happened to me?  I kinda doubt this is the latest style in mutant headgear," she added, pointing to the bandage on her head.

After a moments more hesitation, Bobby related a slightly edited version of the incident in the conference room, leaving out Piotr's possession of the Legacy Cure.  Kitty just stared at him while he spoke, and he saw tears form in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Kit," he said, wiping her tears while others welled up in his own eyes.  "Kurt warned me, I should have protected you…"

"You're sorry?" she asked incredulously.  "He's my psychotic ex-boyfriend, and he tried to kill you.  I think I should be making the apology here.  You tried to convince me that something like this could happen, and I wouldn't believe you.  You could have been killed, and if you had it would have been my fault.  Piotr's obviously gone off the deep end if he believes even half of what you claim he said." 

"But look at it this way; things could be a lot worse," she added, shrugging again as he stared at her in disbelief.  "Don't get me wrong, I AM upset about this.  It's a terrible that it happened, but really, it's just a concussion.  I've had them before; I'm sure you have too.  Hazardous profession, after all.  Hank'll fuss over me for a while, and probably stick me back in that stupid CAT scan thing, but then I'll kick up a fuss of my own and we can get out of here.  This important thing is that you aren't hurt," she added, raising her eyebrows as if to make sure that was in fact true, and lowered them as he shook his head.  "I'll be okay soon enough, and everything's out in the open.  I mean, Piotr'll get the help he needs, Jean will make sure of that, and we won't have to worry about it anymore."  She smiled at him, and added shyly, "Besides, Hank'll probably tell me to stay in bed for a while.  Things could be worse."

Bobby was amazed by her reaction until he remembered he hadn't yet told her the whole story.

"Umm, Kitty?" he stammered.

"What?" she replied, examining his face, then glared at him.  "What aren't you telling me?"

"It's about the scrape on your arm," he replied, and she glanced down at it.

"Forgot about that," she said, staring at the bandage that wrapped her forearm.  "It doesn't seem that big – what'd he get me with, a pocket knife?"

"Uh, no, a needle," Bobby said, wishing he hadn't convinced himself that Kitty needed to hear the whole story.  Kitty just stared at him for a moment, then apparently made the connection, because Bobby watched the blood drain from her face.

"The Legacy cure?" she whispered, staring at her arm.

They're not sure," Bobby tried to assure her.  "That's what he had in the syringe, but Hank and Moira both said that it's really likely there wasn't any on the needle…"

"Can't they check the needle?" she asked hopefully.  Bobby didn't answer right away, and when he did, he just hoped that Kitty was up to hearing the next part.

"Umm, that could be a problem," Bobby hemmed.  

"Why?" she asked, puzzled.

"Umm, because he used the needle a couple of minutes later," Bobby answered finally, watching Kitty's face carefully to judge her reaction.

Bobby saw Kitty's eyes widen and then quickly begin studying his arms.  He shook his head.

"I told you, I'm fine."

"Then…"

"He used it on himself."

His heart sank as Kitty stared at him for a moment, then let go of his hand and turned away.

******************************************

Kitty was pretending to be asleep.

She'd closed her eyes after hearing Bobby relate the events that had lead to her incarceration in the medlab, refusing to answer him despite his entreaties, knowing she was hurting him but unable to summon up the will to care.  He was still there, she knew; she could feel his presence, but he'd stopped trying to talk to her and she was relieved.  Maybe he even believed she was asleep; the part of her that cared truly hoped so.

She'd been so relieved when she saw him walk in; relieved, despite not being able to remember why.  He'd looked so worried, but he'd forced himself to smile, had come over and taken her hand.  Her memory of the last couple of days had slowly begun to return as they talked, and she'd been thrilled to remember that they had slept together; so thrilled that she couldn't resist teasing him about it.  Even after he'd told her about Piotr's attack she'd been unable to truly be upset – she didn't remember it, and for once she'd been able to save someone she loved.  All she'd really felt was relief that the threat Piotr had posed was over.  Kurt couldn't ask her to hide what had happened on Muir Island any longer; the truth would come out, and Jean would make sure that Piotr got professional help.

But then Bobby'd told her the rest, and the world had crumbled.

It wasn't discovering that she could be dying – she'd known since she was fourteen that that was far too likely an outcome if she stayed with the X-Men.  It was just the knowledge that no matter what she did, no matter who she saved, someone close to her would always die.  And, unlike the Summers' family, her friends never cheated death.  Illyana would never show up and say, "Hey, roomie – that wasn't me, it was a clone from an alternate future."  Pete wouldn't walk back through the door, stinking of cigarettes and scotch, and tell her, "Sorry Pryde, I just got shunted into an alternative reality for a bit."  Doug – well, she'd almost thought Doug had made his way back, but much as she liked Douglock he was a poor substitute for her lost friend.  And now it would be Piotr.

"Is she asleep, Robert?" she heard Hank.

"I think so," Bobby replied.   Kitty could hear the pain in his voice, and knew she could ease it just by turning over and taking his hand.  She reminded herself it was for his own good and stayed where she was.

"I am going to have to request that you leave," Hank said, and she nearly jumped.  The part of her that kept insisting that it was ok to care about someone was frantic – it didn't want Bobby to go.

"What d'you mean, leave?  What's going on?" Bobby demanded.

Hank took a deep breath, and Kitty considered how that was probably not a good sign.  "While there is no evidence of a skull fracture and we've managed to stop the bleeding, we're uncertain as to the extent of the trauma and will need to run further tests; in addition, prudence demands that we perform some comprehensive lab work to determine whether or not Kitty was indeed injected with the legacy cure, and if so, how we might go about nullifying it in her body.  None of these procedures require your presence, and it would be best for all involved if you weren't here while we perform them."

 "Hank, is she going to be – I mean…" she heard Bobby ask in a burst.

"Bobby, I assure you, Moira and I will do everything we possibly can," Hank replied confidently.  "We've also contacted Cecelia; trauma is, after all, her area of expertise, so Kitty will be in the best of hands.  But my friend, it would be best if you leave now.  Get some rest, tomorrow will undoubtedly be a busy day considering the events of today."

"She wouldn't talk to me, Hank," she heard Bobby say despondently, and it took everything she had to keep from reaching out to him.  "I told her what happened – she had to know – but now she won't talk to me…"

"She will, Bobby.  Just give her some time," Hank assured him, and she felt the bed rise slightly as Bobby stood up and left. 


	27. Chapter 27

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel.  "Hold Me Now" is by the Thompson Twins, who I assume own the rights to it.  I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff.   
Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!   
  


**Just a Couple of Kids, After All...**   
by Sue Penkivech

**Chapter 27**   


"I just don't understand why you kept this whole thing a secret?" Jean asked, and Kurt sighed. 

What he was beginning to think of as the "Leadership Team" - Jean, Ororo, and Logan - was assembled in Jean's office, reviewing the events of the previous evening. Or, in other words, grilling Kurt, who wasn't enjoying it in the least, although he truly felt he deserved it. 

"I've already told you, mein freunds. While I admit it proved to be an error in judgment, it seemed the best idea at the time. Piotr needed help, and wouldn't stay for it unless we promised to keep it a secret from the X-Men." 

"It would seem that he did not get the help he needed," Ororo commented wryly, and Kurt shrugged his shoulders. 

"He was. He was having daily sessions with Rory Campbell at first. They tapered off to one per week, eventually, then stopped when Rory left. Moira offered to continue them, but Piotr declined." 

"Can't say I blame him, Elf," Logan said. "Would be kinda tough to get counseling from someone whose son you killed." 

"We realized that, but there was no one else," Kurt contested. "Muir Island is fairly remote, after all. In any case, Piotr seemed much improved; he was painting again, had formed a friendship with Meggan, and seemed to have accepted Katzchen's relationship with Herr Wisdom. We thought he had found some peace; why then bring up an issue that had lain dormant so long?" He knew it was true, but realized how feeble an excuse it seemed now that Kitty was in the infirmary and Piotr was in a holding cell. 

"But you admit you've known things weren't, well, right for some time now?" Jean asked impatiently. 

Kurt sighed. "Ja. I noticed that he was behaving oddly at the meeting the other night; he seemed rather obsessive regarding Katzchen's safety, and far too ready to condemn Bobby for endangering her. The next morning, Katzchen noticed that Piotr seemed rather - obsessive, and asked me to speak to Bobby on her behalf. I'm afraid she was rather concerned, given Piotr's previous attack on Pete Wisdom," he added, shrugging. "I spoke with Bobby and warned him to be careful around Piotr until such time as I could speak with you about it, Jean." 

"Explains some things I've been noticing too," Logan said, scratching the backs of his hands. "Saw Piotr glarin' at Kat's room the other day when Bobby slept over. Didn't think much about it at the time. Seems now like I should have." 

"It is not your fault, Logan," Ororo said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "It is not truly anyone's fault, though I do believe," she added, addressing Kurt, "that we should have been told from the start. This was not even addressed in Excalibur's logs, other than that Pete Wisdom had sustained some unexplained injuries. We are Piotr's family, Kurt - we should have been informed." 

"We were not then part of the X-Men, Ororo," Kurt challenged. "I feel certain that things occurred on your team you didn't see fit to inform us of; your survival of the events in Dallas comes to mind." 

"Need we bring that up?" Ororo asked, exasperated. "I should think it qualifies as ancient history by this time. I will concede that we made a mistake, but it was with the best of intentions." 

Instead of replying, Kurt simply cocked an eyebrow at her. She threw up her hands, sighing dramatically. 

"Ahem," Jean said, clearing her throat to get everyone's attention. "Whoever may have been at fault or not, we clearly have a situation here to deal with. In summary: Kitty is injured. Hank informed me earlier that the head injury is not exceptionally serious, but he's still waiting for the results of the tests he and Moira ran to determine whether or not Kitty was infected with the Legacy cure. Piotr is still in the holding cell, and has definitely been infected with the cure - Moira and Hank are brainstorming ways to nullify it, but haven't had any likely prospects. The Neo are waiting for the meeting we were supposed to have had yesterday and making general nuisances of themselves, and -" 

"And according to the kid, Kat's not talkin' to anyone, or at least not to him." Logan concluded. 

"Vat?" Kurt asked, shocked. He hadn't gotten in to see Kitty yet; he'd stopped by a few times in the evening, but Hank had been performing tests and had asked him to hold off until morning. When he'd popped in before the meeting, Kitty had been asleep. "Why not? Does she hold him responsible for her injuries?" 

Logan shrugged. "Survivor guilt, I'd guess. Bobby came by to talk to me last night after he left the medlab - says she was talkin' to him until he told her about Piotr infecting himself with the Legacy cure. He thinks it's because she's convinced anyone she ever cares about dies. Kid's got a point - she's probably lost more close friends to this business than the rest of us put together." 

"But surely it's been quite some time since she and Piotr were involved," Ororo objected, but Kurt shook his head, sighing. 

"Nein - or rather, it has, but they had settled back into friendship. In addition and probably far more importantly to Katzchen, he is Illyana's brother. She will be thinking she's responsible; I know her. Oh, she'll be angry with Piotr, certainly; he did try to kill Bobby after all. But she'll still think it's somehow her fault." Instead of mine, he added mentally, which he knew was far more accurate. As Excalibur's team leader, the decision regarding Piotr had been his, and he'd made the wrong one. 

"Is there anything we can do?" Jean asked. 

"Don't know," Logan replied. "I stopped by to talk to her this morning, but she was asleep. I'll stop by again, but somehow I don't think seein' me is gonna help much, under the circumstances. You or the elf might have better luck," he said, addressing Ororo. 

"Not I," Ororo said sadly. "I'm afraid Kitty is yet another who has never truly forgiven me for hiding the truth after Dallas. Kurt?" 

"Ja, I'll talk with her," he said, a bit annoyed with Ororo's assumption that he would even need to be asked. "But I think that there is someone she's more likely to listen to, provided he keeps trying." 

Jean nodded. "Bobby." She looked at Kurt questioningly, raising her eyebrows. 

"Ja," he added, sighing. "I'll talk to him as well." Given that this whole scenario was ultimately his fault, it was the least he could do. He only hoped that a simple 'talk' would do the trick. 

*********************************** 

Kurt found Bobby in the kitchen, and would have chuckled to himself at his appearance had he not been so concerned. Bobby had obviously thrown himself together quickly; he was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants that looked as if they'd been stuffed in the bottom of a suitcase for a few months with an faded orange t-shirt, equally wrinkled, which bore a faded picture of Howard the Duck. Had he not also been sporting wet hair as evidence of a recent shower and been wearing socks and shoes, Kurt would have assumed that Bobby had just crawled out of bed. The circles under his eyes as he turned to see who'd entered belied that, though - it appeared instead that Bobby still hadn't gone to sleep. 

"Hey Kurt," Bobby said, turning back to the counter where he resumed pouring a bowl of cereal. 

"Herr Drake," Kurt acknowledged casually, walking across the room and getting a mug out of the cabinet, then pouring himself a cup of coffee. "You look tired." 

Bobby glared at him in response, then carried his cereal to the table and sat down. 

"Talkative this morning, nein?" Kurt said, sitting down across from him. "Have you seen Kitty? How is she feeling?" 

"Why don't you ask Hank?" Bobby countered. "She's not talking to me." 

Kurt pretended to not understand, hoping that Bobby would elaborate. "Why not, Bobby? Did you two have an argument?" 

"No Kurt, we did *not* have an argument. An argument would require that both people are talking," Bobby replied, slamming his spoon down so hard on the ancient table that the coffee in Kurt's mug sloshed. "Thanks to that idiot Russian sticking himself with a needle, Kitty's decided to write me off. Or at least, I'd guess that's why - I don't know for sure, she won't tell me. Not that I get much chance to ask her - that battleaxe Moira keeps chasing me out of the lab, telling me Kitty needs rest, but she won't tell me a damn thing either, just grumbles about patient confidentiality." 

"Surely Hank has some information he was willing to share?" Kurt asked. 

"Yeah," Bobby sighed. "At least he and Cecelia had some good news - there's no brain damage and no sign in the blood work they've done so far of the Legacy cure in her system, but they've got more tests to run. Apparently the slightest bit will multiply over time, so they're running tests every few hours to see if they can detect anything. Hank says they should know for sure by noon today," Bobby finished, staring dejectedly into his cereal bowl. 

"Well, that's welcome news," Kurt said, playing with his coffee while he tried to decide how best to approach the next topic. "Perhaps I could speak with Moira about allowing you access to the lab? She's usually not completely unreasonable." 

"Don't bother," Bobby said dejectedly. "Hank said Kitty said she doesn't want to see me. I don't know, Kurt - I mean, I know it's my fault she got hurt, but I just want to talk to her..." 

"Your fault?" Kurt laughed. "Oh Bobby, it seems everyone thinks it's their fault; you think it's your fault, Logan thinks it's his, I know it's at least partially mine, Piotr - well, Piotr thinks it's your fault. I suppose that's two votes for you; maybe you do win." 

Bobby just stared at him.   
"What, Herr Drake? Did you expect me to disagree with you?" Kurt said, watching Bobby's shocked expression. "Actually, I DO disagree - what could you have done? It's not as if you stepped back and invited him to attack her." 

"Yeah, I know," Bobby said. "But what do I do now, oh wise one? She's not talking to me." 

Kurt shrugged. "That's up to you, Bobby. But it seems to me that someone with a sense of humor like yours should be able to cheer her up, if he were persistent enough." 

Bobby chuckled, then sobered again. "I don't think anything's going to make much of a difference unless that idiot pulls through, Kurt. She's really upset about Piotr - I think she figures it's all HER fault." 

"No doubt," Kurt sighed. "She always does. But if you do care about Katzchen -" 

"Do you think I don't?" 

"Nein, I think you do. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here talking to you now. But she needs you, Bobby. She doesn't want you right now, but she needs you. What you do about it is entirely up to you," he added, standing up and taking his coffee cup over to the sink. He could see the other man considering his words, and he had just opened his mouth to say goodbye when the door opened and one of the Neo children - Cailin, he thought, ran in. 

"Bobby? Hey cool, you're here! I've been looking all over for you." 

"What's up, munchkin?" Bobby asked. 

"I was wondering if you could talk to Dr. Hank for me," she asked. 

"Is something wrong?" he replied, and Kurt could hear the concern in his voice. 

"Yeah - well, no, not how you mean. But I need to talk to him, and that lady keeps chasing me out of the medlab," Cailin replied in disgust. "I don't know what her problem is; it's not like I've gotten in the way." 

"Seems to be a common phenomenon," Bobby replied, glancing over at Kurt and rolling his eyes. "She won't let me in either, but I'm guessing I could catch Hank when he comes out if I lurk around there long enough. What'dya need?" 

"Nothing," Cailin said. "It's about what he needs." 

"Vat do you mean?" Kurt asked, trying to think of something Hank needed that Cailin could do something about. 

Cailin turned to look at him. "The Legacy cure thing. I can help - or I think I can, anyway," she said, shrugging her thin shoulders. "But I need more information on how it works before I can be sure. Do you know anything about it?" she asked hopefully. 

"You probably know more than I do," he admitted ruefully. "But what could you do, liebchen? I'm afraid Hank's is rather busy; I don't know if he'll have much time to talk right now." 

"I'm a biological," she answered as if that explained everything. Kurt ran that threw his mind for a moment and drew a blank, though he noticed that Bobby perked up visibly. Perhaps in his study of the Neo's databases he'd encountered something that explained exactly what she meant. Cailin sighed in exasperation. "Don't you spikes know ANYTHING? I can control metabolic processes. Depending on how the virus works, and how the cure works..." 

"You might be able to nullify it?" Bobby finished. When Cailin nodded, he picked her up and swung her around. "Cailin, you're a lifesaver!" 

"Hey, stop that!" she yelled in between laughing. "What're you so happy about, anyway? I wasn't sure you'd want me to help - the guy did try to kill you and Kitty, after all. But I hate to see people die who don't need to..." 

"Actually, Cailin, he very much needs to not die. Or something like that," Kurt continued, waving aside Cailin's quizzical look and catching Bobby's eye. Apparently Bobby had had the same though, because he took Cailin's hand and began leading her out of the kitchen. 

"Come on, I may not know anything useful, but I've got the ear of the man who does. Let's go see him. And hey, Kurt?" 

"Vat?" 

"Thanks." 

"Anytime," Kurt replied as the door closed behind them. He poured himself another cup of coffee, while he said a silent prayer of thanks. Despite Jean's irritation with the Neo, their presence in the mansion might be a blessing after all. 

****************************** 

Bobby was only vaguely aware of Cailin's confused expression as he pulled her out the door and down the hallway to the medlab. 

"You again?" Moira demanded when he pounded on the door. "Don't ye have anyone else to go pester, Bobby? I told ye, Kitty does nae want to see you right now. I'm sorry about that," she admitted grudgingly, "an' I know ye only want tae work things out wi' her, but she needs rest now more than she does an argument. Now, gae on, get out of here." 

"Actually, Moira, I'm not here to see Kitty," he said, only partially lying. He DID want to see Kitty, and he seriously hoped she'd overhear what Cailin had to say to Hank, assuming the outcome was positive. "Jean wanted us to see Hank about something unrelated." 

Moira glared at him suspiciously, then opened the door further to allow them to enter. "If this is one of your tricks, Bobby Drake, I -" 

"No trick," he said with as sincere an expression as he could muster. "I promise - we'll go straight into Hank's lab and follow his instructions from then on, ok?" 

"All right then," she conceded, but her eyes followed them all the way to Hank's door. He spared Kitty a glance and saw she was more or less sitting up in bed talking with a young red-head who he identified after only a moment's thought as Rahne. He also noticed she was watching them, but true to his word he didn't stop to speak to her. 

"Jean didn't send us," Cailin whispered as the got to Hank's lab door. 

"I know that, and you know that, but I also know she would have if she'd thought known why we're here, so it's ok," he reasoned. Cailin just looked at him and rolled his eyes, and he laughed as he knocked on Hank's door. 

"Come in - ah, Robert? And - I'm sorry, Kaitlin?" he said, extending his hand to the girl. 

"Cailin," she corrected, taking his hand and shaking it. 

"I'm sorry, I fear I have an appalling propensity for failing to remember names," he admitted with a wry smile. "I DO recall that you are the young lady interested in pursuing a medical career when you grow to adulthood, correct?" 

"Partially," Cailin replied shrugging. "I am a young lady who has already embarked upon a medical career, though how far I'll advance in view of the death of my primary instructor is somewhat questionable." Bobby began laughing as Hank's eyebrows rose higher and higher as the girl spoke, taken aback by her statement. 

"I do apologize, Cailin, for having underestimated you. Come, have a seat," Hank said, gesturing to a stood at one of the lab tables, and sitting down on one himself. "What brings you two to my humble lab? If you're here to request access to Kitty, Bobby, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you; while I personally believe that it would be mutually beneficial for the two of you to have the opportunity to discuss your respective feelings about the current situation, Moira disagrees, and I'm far too exhausted at this time to debate the issue with her. Perhaps later when she absents herself from the lab?" he offered. 

"Yeah, let me know," Bobby said hopefully. "But that isn't why we're here. Cailin needs to talk to you about something." 

"Oh?" Hank inquired, turning to face the girl. "About what would you like to converse, Cailin?" 

"I think I can help you with the Legacy cure," she replied calmly, and Bobby could see that Hank was forcing himself to give her statement all due attention. 

"Oh? What do you propose?" 

"Well, given what I've heard about the vector by which the virus is transmitted, I assume ..." she kept going in this vein while Bobby did what he always did when Hank started babbling in medical-ese - he zoned out. He wandered around the lab for a bit, looking at this and that and peering through Hank's much maligned microscope, even though he had no idea what he was looking at, before making his way over to the door and peering through the glass window in the top. 

With a little maneuvering to get the right angle, he could see Kitty talking with Rahne. Despite animation on Rahne's part - apparently she was telling some story she found humorous - Kitty wasn't really smiling. Oh, her mouth was turned up, but her eyes still looked pained, and Bobby felt a pang. If he hadn't come here on vacation, Kitty wouldn't be lying there now, hurting. For that matter, he wouldn't be standing in here hurting either. 

"Of course," a small voice inside him reminded him, "you wouldn't have fallen in love either. Would you really want to undo that?" 

He looked out the window again at Kitty. 

"No," he said to himself, and smiled. That was the last thing he wanted. But he needed to talk to her, and soon. He saw Moira join the two girls, carrying a basket of vials, and saw Kitty roll her eyes as she pulled up the sleeve of her hospital gown. Moira briskly poked a needle into her arm, and he realized this was the blood test that would determine whether or not Kitty had been injected with the Legacy cure. 

"Robert?" Hank's voice finally penetrated his mind. 

"Uh, yeah?" Bobby asked, turning toward Hank and Cailin. 

"Have you heard from Jean when they plan on launching the mission against the High Evolutionary?" 

"No, why?" 

"Well, this remarkable young lady has related quite a revolutionary proposal with regards to mitigating the effects of the Legacy cure in our admittedly disturbed teammate. However, to initiate the process she will first need to be in possession of her remarkable abilities, so I was inquiring as to whether or not you had any idea when they might potentially be restored." 

"Sorry Hank," Bobby said, brushing back his hair with his hand. "For once I've had even less sleep than you. Can you say that again in English?" 

Hank sighed, and Bobby glared at him. For once he wasn't just trying to mess with Hank; he really was exhausted, and couldn't figure out what his friend was saying. "Cailin thinks she can slow down the progression of the Legacy cure enough so that it won't kill Piotr, but will still spread. Do you have any idea when Jean plans to launch the assault? We won't be able to attempt it until Cailin's abilities are restored." 

"No clue," Bobby replied, but he felt a surge of hope. "You think it'll work, then?" 

"In theory, it seems very likely," Hank said. "If nothing else, the worst likely to happen is that the cure won't spread - Cailin seems confident that at a minimum she can counteract the process completely." 

"That's great!" Bobby said, smiling broadly at Cailin, who was grinning with pride. "Can I go tell Kitty?" he asked hopefully. 

"No, you may not. What you may do is go and inquire of Jean when she plans on undertaking the assault, and whether or not Katherine's assistance will be necessary. While I'd prefer to keep her under observation for a few more days," he admitted, "I know with certainty that she will wish to be out and about as soon as possible. She's nearly as cantankerous a patient as Logan. If she wishes to leave after the blood test results are read, I will be hard pressed to stop her, though I will insist she get sufficient rest. After you have obtained Jean's reply, you may return here, by which time I will not only have convinced Moira that she needs to go and get some rest herself but should also have the results of Katherine's blood work. And THEN you may tell her both sets of news. Is that acceptable?" 

"Definitely," Bobby said grinning, and had to keep himself from running out of the lab. "See you in a bit, then," he said as he closed the door behind him, rushed past a curious looking Kitty, an amused Rahne, and a complaining Moira, and exited through the medlab's door as well. He had had an idea, but he would have to track down Jubilee after he spoke with Jean. Kurt was right - if anyone could cheer up Kit, it was him. A stupid, pointless gesture was called for, and if there was one thing he excelled at, it was stupid, pointless gestures. 

********************************** 

Kitty watched Bobby rush out of the medlab, wondering why he was in such a hurry. Despite herself, she was a little upset that he hadn't stopped to see her, though she told herself firmly that it was for the best, and that at least she hadn't hurt him as badly as she'd feared if he was so intent on being elsewhere. Still, the back of her mind insisted, it would have been nice if he'd at least asked how she was feeling. She pushed the thought away and tried to concentrate on the story Rahne was telling, but it kept returning. Finally, she sighed. 

"What's wrong, Kitty? Should I go get me mum?" 

"No Rahne, I'm fine," she insisted before Rahne could get up and go fetch Moira. "I just -" 

"Ye miss Bobby, don't ye?" Rahne asked quietly. "Why won't ye talk to him? He was in and out all night, ye know, making a real pest of himself." 

"He was?" Kitty asked, surprised. She didn't remember much of the night before except Hank, Cecelia and Moira subjecting her to another CAT scan and a number of lab tests before she'd succumbed to a night of restless sleep, broken by frequent blood draws and even more frequent nightmares. 

"Aye," Rahne replied. "Me mum chased him out, said you needed rest. And ye did say ye dinnae want to see him, remember?" 

"Oh yeah," Kitty mumbled. If Moira had told Bobby that, and there was no reason to believe she hadn't, it was small wonder he didn't even stop to see her. Yet another relationship she'd screwed up by lack of thought...she reminded herself that she HAD given it thought, and had decided that it would be best for everyone if she just broke up with him now. But she had trouble convincing herself. Her decision, which had seemed so logical the night before, wasn't tracking as well this morning. 

"Did ye want me to fetch him?" Rahne asked hopefully, and Kitty smiled a little despite herself. If there was one thing she'd learned about Rahne in their joint time with Excalibur, it was that the younger girl dearly loved to 'help' others with their relationship problems. She'd played intermediary any number of times between Brian and Meggan, between Kurt and Amanda, and had even offered to help Kitty patch things up with Pete, if that was what she wanted. "One of these days," Kitty thought, "we are going to find Rahne a boyfriend of her own." But she shook her head firmly. 

Rahne rolled her eyes. "Kitty, ye're too stubborn for your own good." She stood up, touched Kitty's shoulder, turned and walked away, pausing for a moment to speak with Moira before waving and walking out the door. 

Kitty pressed the button to recline her bed, sat up long enough to rearrange her pillows and fold one in half the way she liked it, then lay back down, Rahne's words echoing around in her mind. 

"You're right," she finally mumbled, but no one was there to hear her. 

******************************** 

Bobby arrived at Jean's office door, and paused to catch his breath before knocking. He could hear voices inside, and thought briefly about waiting until Jean's business was complete before interrupting, but was too excited to wait. He tapped on the door and it swung open, revealing Jean, Storm, and Logan sitting with Domina, Jaeger, and Arakasi. 

"I'm sorry - the door wasn't closed all the way. I can come back later," he stammered as everyone turned to look at him. 

"No, come in Robert," Ororo said, and Jean nodded. "We were just going to call you anyway." 

"Oh, ok," he said, walking into the rather crowded office and choosing a chair next to Logan, which he turned around and sat down on backwards, his elbows resting on it's back. "What's up?" he asked nervously, uncomfortable with all the eyes now focused on him. 

"Given the - upset at yesterday's meeting, we thought it best to keep this one small, but we would like your input," Jean said smiling, and Bobby relaxed. "But first, how is Kitty doing?" 

"Moira just played mosquito again, and Hank says he should have the results soon," Bobby answered, shrugging. "He also said that he probably won't be able to keep her in the medlab much longer if they're negative; she's anxious to get out. 

Logan snickered knowingly. "She talkin' yet?" he asked, and Bobby nodded. 

"She was talking with Rahne when I left." 

Logan looked at him searchingly, and Bobby shrugged. "Hey, it's better than nothing." 

"While I'm relieved to hear that Katherine is feeling better, perhaps we could return to the topic?" Domina requested. Bobby had to stifle a laugh at the look on Jean's face, and suspected that if she was able to use her telepathy Domina would be getting quite a headache by now, telepathic ethics be damned. 

"Of course. I've been unable to discuss it with Kitty, for obvious reasons, but Douglock and Seth assure me that they are ready to take down the satellite's systems whenever we wish. I would like Kitty to be present," and as Domina began to object, Jean raised her hand to stop her, "if only because she has experience dealing with Douglock. He can be something of a challenge. While I don't doubt that Seth is quite capable of implementing whatever they've planned, I would like Kitty there to..." her voice trailed off, as if trying to choose her words carefully. 

"Interpret?" Bobby guessed, having met Douglock briefly the day before, and was rewarded by Jean's nod. 

"I have no objection," Domina said, and turned to Bobby. "Will she be released to work immediately?" 

"I got that impression from Hank, assuming the lab work's negative. He wants her to get some rest, though," he qualified. 

"Certainly reasonable," Arakasi said quietly, and Bobby was startled. The man was always so quiet it was easy to forget he was there. "In view of current occurrences, are you still willing to serve on the mission?" 

Bobby considered it a moment before replying. If things went well this afternoon with Kitty, he'd really hate to leave; on the other hand, it was the first time anyone had asked him to take on such a serious role in a mission, and he was torn between a desire to prove himself and an equally strong desire to run for the nearest exit. He reminded himself that Kitty had been thrilled when he'd told her, and that she at least was certain that he could do a good job at it. 

"I'll go," he said finally, and Arakasi nodded. 

"Good," Jaeger said. "Obviously, the negotiation team will need to leave before the cyber-attack occurs, so that their rendezvous with the satellite can be nearly simultaneous with the capture of its systems. Shall we plan on them leaving tomorrow morning, then? That should give everyone adequate time to prepare," he added. "Have you decided who among the X-Men will be taking part, other than Robert?" 

"We've discussed it," Jean replied, glancing at Ororo who nodded. "Storm will lead the team, with Iceman, Rogue, Psylocke, and Nightcrawler as team members. And the Neo?" 

"We have also decided," Domina said. "Jaeger will lead, and with him Moran, Amarantha, Salvo, and Static. We had planned to send Junction," she explained as Jaeger looked at her questioningly, "but her abilities would be redundant if your Nightcrawler is a team member. Jaeger is our warleader, and a hunter like your own Wolverine," she acknowledged, nodding her head in Logan's direction. Moran is my successor, and can channel the abilities of the others as well as her own. Salvo can manifest living projective weaponry, Amarantha casts plasma beams, and Static can reverse or scramble the abilities of meta-humans. Is this acceptable to you?" 

"It is," Ororo answered. "Though it would appear that you are preparing for combat?" she added, just a hint of a question in her voice. 

"The Neo are always prepared for combat," Domina stated. "However, we have accepted your ways for the duration of the alliance. We will not seek revenge," she added grudgingly, then straightened. "We will, however, defend ourselves if necessary." 

"We would hardly expect otherwise," Ororo granted, a hint of threat in her voice. "Those joining you will accept the presence of spikes, and honor the alliance you have proposed?" 

"Of course," Domina said, looking shocked. "I am Domina. I have spoken. The alliance is offered." 

Bobby looked on as the two formidable women locked eyes, each taking the other's measure. Finally, Storm said, "Alliance is accepted. We depart tomorrow at 7:00 a.m." 

Bobby saw Arakasi prod Domina, who took a breath before speaking again. "Since that is settled, I wondered if I might ask some questions about your teammate, Rogue?" 

Bobby took that as his cue and stood up. "Well then, if you'll excuse me, I promised Hank an update," he said and left the room, wondering absently what about Rogue the Neo could possibly find so interesting. He didn't give it much thought, though, as he was trying to figure out where he might be able to find Jubilee at this time of day. He decided to try her room first, and headed into the women's wing of the mansion. When he reached Jubilee's door, he heard giggling from within. Unable to resist, he pushed the door open a little and peered inside. 

Jubilee was sitting cross-legged on the bed wearing an over-sized t-shirt and, he hoped, shorts, talking on the phone. 

"Yeah Paige, you wouldn't believe it! I mean, you should SEE this guy! I can't believe Kitty passed him over for Bobby - yeah, the rumors true, they're like joined at the hip lately. Nah, I don't understand it either - I mean, the Bobster's kinda cute, but who'd have thought? No, that was just an ugly rumor Monet started - we're just buds. Anyway - yeah, I'll send you a picture - you get internet out there? Well duh, I know Kentucky isn't a third world country, but that doesn't mean you get high speed either. Yeah, ok fine, I'll hook up with you on IM later and send it then. No I am NOT going to have someone else call you to tell you I'm not pulling your leg, I'm sooo sure! Hey - BOBBY! What're you doing there! Damn Paige, I've got an eavesdropper - no privacy here, ya know? I'll catch you later!" Bobby laughed at the furious expression on Jubilee's face as she hopped off the bed, dropping the phone on the floor, and confronted him. 

"What's the deal, Icecube?" she asked, her hands on her hips. "You ever hear of knocking?" 

"Sorry Jubes, couldn't resist. Need a favor," he said, giving her the wide-eyed puppy dog look he knew from experience usually worked on her. 

"Forget it, Drake - that's not going to work," she stated, still glaring at him. 

"C'mon Jubes," he begged. "I just need to borrow something..." 

"I said forget it! I'm SOO not talking to you," she added, turning her back on him. 

"It's for Kitty..." 

"Oh. Ok, what d'you need?" 

Bobby told her, and Jubilee began laughing. When he walked out of the room, a duffel bag over his shoulder, he was humming. If this didn't cheer Kit up, he didn't know what would. 

**************************** 

Kitty heard the door of the medlab open, and opened her eyes just in time to see Bobby rush by and into Hank's lab, carrying a duffel bag that looked an awful lot like Jubilee's. 

"What's going on?" she wondered, staring at the door of the lab. She'd slept a little more since Bobby had left; she'd been worried about the amount she was sleeping, but Hank had assured her it was a completely normal physical response to a concussion. It was strange, she thought, that Hank hadn't come out and told her the results of the lab work - he was usually good about that sort of thing. Sitting up a little, she looked around and noticed that Moira was absent. "Good," she thought, though she instantly felt guilty about it. She loved Moira, really she did, but the woman was just too...obsessive came to mind, but she dismissed it. "Overprotective would be more like it," she told herself firmly, and sighed. Hank understood her much better; despite being nervous about the results of the lab work and intermittently light-headed and nauseous as a result of the concussion, she wanted to get out of here. Badly. And she knew Hank would've let her, if not for Moira. 

And she wanted to see Bobby. Badly. Rahne's words had hit home; while she was still upset about Piotr, she knew it was his own fault, not hers, and certainly not Bobby's. And for once, she HAD managed to save someone she cared about. She only hoped the realization hadn't come too late. 

She wondered again why the lab work was taking so long, and braced herself for the worst when the door of Hank's lab opened. But instead of a seriously looking Hank, a grinning Bobby emerged, microphone in hand, and she could hear music start playing in Hank's lab while Bobby walked toward her. 

Despite herself, she had to smile as Bobby raised his eyebrows and started singing, only slightly off key: 

"I have a picture pinned to my wall   
an image of you and of me and we're laughing   
with love at it all   
But look at our life now, we're tattered and torn   
We fuss and we fight and delight in the tears   
that we cry until dawn 

Ooh, hold me now   
Warm my heart   
Stay with me   
Let lovin' start, let lovin' start 

You say I'm a dreamer, we're two of a kind   
Both of us searching for some perfect world we know we'll never find   
So perhaps I should leave here, yeah yeah, go far away   
But you know that there's nowhere that I'd rather be   
than with you here today. 

Ooh, hold me now   
Warm my heart   
Stay with me   
Let lovin' start, let lovin' start."

While he was singing, Bobby had kept walking toward her until he reached the side of her bed. Kneeling down, he took her hand and started the next verse. 

You ask if I love you, well, what can I say?   
You know that I do and that this is just one of those games that we play   
So I'll sing you a new song, please don't cry any more   
And I'll ask your forgiveness though I don't know just what I'm asking it for 

Oh, oh, hold me now (hold me in your lovin' arms)   
Oh warm my heart (warm my cold and tired heart)   
Stay with me (Come on and stay with me)   
Let lovin' start, let lovin' start."

"Well?" Bobby asked as the music faded out. 

"Well what?" she replied, smiling. 

"Want to get out of here? I mean, I know the décor is spectacular," he said, glancing around at the bare walls and exotic looking machinery, "but I figured you'd be more comfortable in your own room. Or mine," he added hopefully. "Hank says there's no reason for you to stay here; all the lab results came back negative, and you can rest just was well there as you can here." 

Kitty felt as if a weight had been taken off her chest, and sat up. "No Legacy cure?" she repeated, just to make sure she'd heard Bobby correctly. 

"None," Hank said, walking up. "It would appear that possess the fabled seven lives of your namesake, or at least a great deal of good fortune. Though it would appear that thanks to the proposed assistance of my young friend, here," he gestured at Cailin, who was standing behind him, and she waved, "the Legacy cure will not carry the death sentence we originally envisioned." 

Kitty stared at him. "You mean Piotr...?" She didn't even dare finish the thought. 

"Will most likely be somewhat the worse for the experience, but certainly need not perish," Hank clarified, his face beaming. 

"Sooo???" Bobby asked, with such a hopeful look on his face that her remaining reluctance melted away. 

"Let's get out of here," she said, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Her head spun, and Bobby reached out to steady her. 

"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked, a concerned look on his face. 

"I'm fine," she assured him. And she meant it.   
  



	28. Chapter 28

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel,. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff. 

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!  The story's winding down – if you want a sequel, you know what to do!  Just press the little "Review" button at the bottom of the chapter, and let me know! 

Just a Couple of Kids, After All…

Chapter 28

(Tuesday, 10:00 a.m.)

Bobby couldn't quite understand how it had come to this.

It was supposed to have been simple; meet with the High Evolutionary, present the evidence, make an emotional plea, and have him agree to not reactivate the satellite systems Kit and her crew had disabled.  One, two, three – done! And back home to spend the rest of the world's oddest vacation with Kit.

Somehow, it all went wrong when they'd arrived at the satellite.

He avoided yet another attack from a cross between a man and a tiger, and sent a stream of ice flying at its feet, freezing the creature in place.  It broke free, and he concentrated for a moment, then melted and reformed behind it.  Before it could react, he froze it completely.

If nothing else, Kit's part of the plan had gone well, and he was relieved; he had no urge to fight these things without his powers.  The fight had begun that way; apparently they'd made better time than anticipated, and their powers had only returned several minutes after they'd been attacked.  He saw in his minds eye the body of the New Man he'd been fighting when his had returned and winced, then blocked out the image.  Time enough after the fight to deal with that.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blue, fuzzy Nightcrawler – that was going to take some re-getting used to - teleport out of the reach of some lizard-man.  He heard Rogue yell a warning, and snapped his attention back to his new opponent, a reject from Planet of the Apes, who'd just jumped into the fray.  Not for the first time, he really, really wished he was back at the mansion.  

************************

_(Monday, __1:45 p.m.__)___

_When Bobby opened the door of the medlab, he was surprised to see a crowd of X-Men standing outside, and even more surprised when they began applauding._

_"Hey Bobster, not bad, but I hope you're a good accountant…" Jubilee began, but Bobby looked at her and smirked._

_"So you don't have to worry about me earning my living as a singer?"_

_"Aw, you've heard that one."_

_"Before you were born."___

_"Well, ah think it was romantic," Rogue said, coming over and giving Kitty a hug.  "Couldn't miss it when Jubes came and told me.  You're lucky, sugah; wish someone'd come sing to me and cheer me up."_

_"That's no fair, chere!" Remy protested.  "Remy serenade you last year.  You threw somethin' out de window."_

_"Ah thought it was a cat in heat," she replied, punching him in the arm.  "And shoutin' out the words to "Red, Red Wine" outside mah window at two in the mornin' ain't serenadin', Swamp Rat."_

_"Next time I pick a different song, oui?"_

_"Next time ya pick a different voice, too!"_

_Kurt just winked at him, and gave him a thumbs up.  Bobby smiled and nodded in reply._

_"Bobby," he heard Kitty say at his side, and noticed that her face was white, and that she was swaying on her feet.  He quickly put his arm around her to steady her and said, "You ok, Kit?"_

_"Just a little dizzy.__  I think I'm maybe not quite as fine as I though I was."_

_"Let's get you back to your room then," he said, and turned to the assembled X-Men.  "Show's over, guys – next performance __9:00 p.m.__ outside Moira's room," he quipped, then turned back to Kitty as the other X-Men dispersed._

_"Your room," she said shakily, and he raised his eyebrows._

_"Are you sure?  You'd probably be more comfortable in yours…"_

_"Maybe.__  But yours is closer, and I think that's more important right now."_

_Bobby opened his mouth to ask her if she thought it might be a good idea to go back to the medlab, then bit his tongue.  She'd just say no, anyway.  Instead, he bent down and scooped her up._

_"Hey!" she protested, but wrapped her arm around his neck._

_"Hey nothing.__  If you don't want to collapse and have Moira INSIST you go back in there," he pointed his chin toward the lab door, "you're just going to have to put up with it.  Besides," he added seriously, "I need something to erase the last image I have of you like this."_

_"When I fell asleep in the car?" Kitty asked, looking at him with confusion apparent on her face while he fiddled with the button on the elevator.  The door opened, and he carried her inside, then shifted her so he could select the floor.  Once he finished, he looked down and answered her._

_"No, when you collapsed on the floor of the conference room.  Don't do that again, ok?  I don't mind carrying you, but I prefer you to be conscious and not bleeding."_

_Kitty laughed, then sobered as she realized he wasn't joking.  "I'm sorry," she said, reaching up to touch his face.  "I didn't mean to scare you."_

_The elevator door opened, and he walked out, then down the hall to his room, relieved that he'd left the door open.  He lay Kitty down on his bed, pushed the remaining contents of his now empty suitcase onto the floor, and sat down next to her, trying to think of what he wanted to say.  _

_"You're mad," she said, searching his face with her eyes.  Bobby stood up and started pacing.  _

_"No, I'm not.  I'm scared, I'm relieved, I'm – I don't know what I am, Kit!  I just know I love you, and I thought that damn idiot killed you and it was all my fault because he was trying to kill me, after all, and then you wouldn't talk to me, and…"  _

_"Can you come sit down?" Kitty pleaded.  "You're making me dizzy."_

_"That's kind of how I feel too," he answered, but came and sat down.  Kitty reached out and took his hand._

_"How much sleep did you get last night?" she asked, looking at him closely._

_"Uh, none," he admitted, rubbing his forehead with his other hand.  "And I probably should if we're leaving at 7:00…I'll probably need to be up by five for the briefing."_

_"Leaving?  For where?" she asked, puzzled, and he remembered she hadn't heard about the plans for the next day._

_"The High Evolutionary's satellite.__  Which reminds me, Jean wants to know if you'll be ok to keep an eye on Seth and Douglock?  I think she's afraid Seth'll try to talk Douglock into doing something he shouldn't.  But if you can't, I'm sure she'll understand."_

_"No, I should be ok by then," she said, and grinned.  "I'm sure we've got a spare wheel chair lying around if I really need one.  Who's all going?" she asked nonchalantly, but Bobby could hear the envy in her voice._

_"Not you," he replied, grinning back.  "And you wouldn't be even if you weren't injured – you're the most likely to pull off the cyber-invasion.  But it's Ororo, me, Kurt, Rogue, and Bets – hey, betcha Warren's loving that!  And a bunch of Neo; Jaeger, Moran, Amarantha, Static – remember her from the meeting?  The one who was so stiff she put Scott to shame?  She apparently scrambles mutant powers; kinda cool, though I don't know how much use that'll be, the High Evolutionary's not a mutant, is he?  And some other guy, I forget his name."_

_"I wish you weren't going," Kitty said, squeezing his hand._

_"Yeah well, I kinda wish I wasn't going too," he admitted.  "Much rather stay here."  He let go of Kitty's hand, then laid down on the bed next to her.  Seeing her wince, he sat up.  "I'm sorry – you want me to go?  You can stay here, take a nap…I just thought I'd get some rest while we were talking."_

_"No, it's fine," she assured him, and he reluctantly lay back down, yawning broadly.  _

_"I'm wiped," he said, and heard Kitty chuckle._

_"I'm actually awake," she said, and Bobby saw her grin before he closed his eyes.  "We never can get our timing straight, can we?"  He grunted his agreement before falling asleep._

****************************

(Tuesday, 10:05 a.m.)

Kitty was engaged in watching the screen in front of her when she heard the door open.  She turned a little too quickly in the chair she was seated on, and fought to regain her equilibrium.   When things stabilized, she realized Jean had joined them, and was looking over Seth's shoulder at the other station.

"How are things going here?" Jean asked.

"Fine," Kitty replied.  "Douglock got in and we shut everything down about a half hour ago.  So far, there have been no attempts to re-enable the nullification field, which I'm hoping is a good sign…"  Her voice trailed off as she looked at Jean, hoping the older woman had some news in turn.  She was disappointed when Jean shook her head.

"Not a word since they landed.  Could it be related to your shutting down the systems there?"

"It is possible," Douglock inserted.  "While we attempted to leave the communication systems intact, we have no way of knowing how successful we were."

"Would they have their powers back?" Jean asked.  "You said everything's down, but Moira's got me wearing an inhibitor because of the baby, so I can't tell."  At Kitty's curious look, she added, "She wasn't sure how the sudden return of my powers would affect the baby.  She'll remove the inhibitor eventually, but wanted to make sure it was under controlled circumstances."

"That makes sense.  It should have affected them almost instantly.  I know it did here," she added, holding up her hand to attract Jean's attention to it, then pushing it with some effort through the arm of her chair.  "It's taking a little getting used to, but I'm pretty sure everyone's powers have returned."  

Seth nodded his agreement.  "My own have.  See?" He gestured toward the monitor of a computer they weren't using at present, and it turned on and began opening programs and typing without apparent user intervention."

"Very interesting," Jean nodded.  "Well, let me know if anything happens," she added as she left the room.

"Damn it, Bobby, if anything happens to you I'll kill you myself," Kitty thought, but said nothing as she turned to listen to a question Seth was raising about her phasing ability.

**************************************

(Monday, 2:35 p.m.)

_"Bobby?" Kitty asked, and was unsurprised when he didn't answer.  She shifted slightly, swallowing against the wave of nausea that overtook her.  "Damn, Bobby, when I told you to bring me here I thought you'd be awake for a while.  This really isn't fair, you know._

_"I'm not tired, either.  I think I finally slept myself out.  Of course, I've thought that about five times already today, and it's only two o'clock, so I'll probably change my mind in a bit and go to sleep.  Probably about the time you wake up.  But you need the sleep – you really do look wiped._

_Kitty sighed and wriggled, trying to get comfortable, but only succeeded in rousing Bobby just enough that he turned over and threw an arm over her.  She stifled a laugh; under different circumstances, she'd love to snuggle up with him, but right now she was just itching to get up.  And knew she couldn't, unless she really wanted to risk falling on her face.  The aborted walk from the medlab had proven that._

_A scratching at the window caught her attention, and she carefully turned her head just in time to see Lockheed pull the screen out with his claws, then wiggle his way under the slightly open window._

_"Hey Dragon!__  Where've you been?  You didn't even come to visit __me__.__" she accused, as he flew to her side and began cooing and rubbing her hand with his head.  He stopped for a moment to stare at her indignantly._

_"Oh, lemme guess – Moira wouldn't let you into the medlab?"  Lockheed nodded violently and hissed his disapproval._

_"Yeah, Bobby's not too happy with her either," Kitty said, and Lockheed peered over her at Bobby, then cocked his head at her._

_"He was tired," Kitty explained.  "Apparently he spent all night trying to get into the lab and getting told off."  Lockheed cooed and rubbed Bobby's arm with his head and Kitty laughed._

_"Yeah, he's a good one, huh dragon?  I think I'll keep him.  That ok with you?"_

_Lockheed nodded his head enthusiastically then settled down next to her._

_"I'm glad you approve," Kitty said, scratching just behind his wings._

_"Me too," Bobby added sleepily, and kissed the back of her head.  With a warm body on either side of her, and a real feeling of wellness within, Kitty decided that more sleep sounded pretty attractive after all._

_***************************_

_(Tuesday, __10:45 a.m.__)___

They'd made some headway, Bobby decided as he took a brief glance around the landing bay and realized there were very few people standing, and nearly all of them were either X-Men or Neo.  He lowered the temperature of a particularly large and fast crocodile-like man Amarantha was battling, and it slowed enough for her to blast him.  She turned toward him and smiled, and he gave her a thumbs-up, much to her apparent confusion.  Storm was in the air, surveying the damage, while Rogue duked it out with a large ape-like adversary that was apparently nearly as strong as she was.  He raised his hand to aim an ice blast in its direction, but Moran was there already, and she and Rogue delivered flying punches, knocking the beast out.  Betsy was wandering the floor, using her telepathic abilities to deepen the sleep of those already unconscious and, he noticed with a start, reading the minds of those that were marginally conscious, trying to gather information.  Jaeger was just finishing off his own opponent, who looked vaguely rhinoceros-like – man, but that guy moved fast! - and Static was leaning against the fall, breathing hard and holding her side.  Bobby turned to move toward her, but Kurt was faster and had bamfed to her side before he could move.

They'd all worked well together, Bobby mused as he caught his own breath, but he'd noticed one principal difference between the two groups; the Neo didn't hesitate to use lethal force, while the X-Men tried to avoid doing so.  Still, it wasn't as if he could talk.  He stared at the body of a cat-man on the floor and winced, seeing the shards of ice that were embedded its chest, the result of sudden return of his own powers.  He was still standing there staring, allowing the ice he'd formed around his body for the fight to melt away, when Rogue landed at his side and put her gloved hand on his shoulder.

"It's ok, Bobster," she said, "It's not like ya meant to," but Bobby noticed as he turned to look at her that she looked a little green herself.  

"How're you holding up?" he asked, looking in her eyes.

"Oh, fine, sugah.  Ah punched me a hole through a frog guy's head, that always makes for a good day.  To top it off, Ah forgot to put mah gloves on before we landed, and ah got some of that toad's thoughts when Ah connected.  Seems we're all back ta normal, all right."

Bobby didn't know what to say.  "I'm sorry, Rogue."

"Yeah well, sugah, it's not your fault," she replied, sniffing and shrugging her shoulders.  "I really don' wanta think about it, not yet.  Got enough ta handle here and now.  What're we doin' next, d'ya know?"

"No clue," he admitted.  "Let's go ask Stormy."

"Y'know she'll hit ya with lightnin' if she hears ya call her that, don't ya?  Only Remy gets away with it," Rogue said as they walked toward the side of the room where Storm had just landed.

Bobby just shrugged and grinned.  "There's a thought.  Then SHE'D have to talk to the head honcho, when and if we ever find him."

When they reached the crowd that was forming around Storm and Jaeger, Betsy was relating what she had learned from the New Men she had probed.

"They really had very little information," she said apologetically.  "Apparently they became confused when the systems went offline, and were unable to contact anyone for instructions – communications are completely down, by the way.  We docked, and one of the lizard-things," she wrinkled her nose with distaste, "told the others to fight, so they did.  That one," and she gestured toward her left, but Bobby couldn't identify which New Man she was referring to, "thought the High Evolutionary had abandoned them, but it seems to me that that was simply paranoia on his part.  The others thought it likely he was in the control room when communications failed."

"It would seem that his focus, then, would be on restoring them," Jaeger said.  "Do you have any information on which other systems are down?"

"Well, some of the powered doorways aren't working," Static replied, shrugging as she joined the group.  "I tried to open one and see what was on the other side, but it didn't appear to have power."  

Betsy nodded confirmation.  "Some of them had realized that as well; I believe I can identify on the map which ones they believe aren't working."

"Please do so," Storm said, handing her the sketchy map Douglock had provided based on the information he'd gleaned from the satellite's systems, and Bobby watched as Betsy bent and began scribbling on it.

"It's obvious, I suppose," Kurt said, gesturing at his once again fur covered body and swishing his tail, "but the mutation suppression system is also down, I assume without as well as within?"

"That was the idea, wasn't it, Spike?" Rax inserted.  Bobby glared at him, but unfortunately the young Neo either didn't see him or pretended not to.  He wasn't happy about Rax's presence, but apparently Salvo hadn't been able to get to New York in time for the rendezvous, and Jaeger had substituted Rax in his place.  "When are we going to get on with it, anyway?  You people talk everything to death.  Small wonder you never accomplish anything.  Though I notice for people who claim they never kill there are a number of bodies lying around who bear the marks of your powers, not ours," he added callously.

"Little boy, shut your mouth or I will shut it for you," Psylocke commanded in a very cold tone.  

"You and how many others?" he countered, then froze as Psylocke approached him with a psiblade in her hand.

"Psylocke!  Leave the ill-mannered child alone," Storm commanded, and Betsy reluctantly turned back to the group after keeping her glare focused on a now squirming Rax for a few moments longer.  "I will have you know that the X-Men NEVER take lives casually, and I for one mourn the deaths of all those who perished here.  It was just so unnecessary," she added, shaking her head sadly.  "Perhaps there is something we could do?  Burial is impossible, but they should be honored in some way."

"Honored?  What's the matter with you idiots?  They tried to kill you!  I don't understand why we don't just finish off the rest of them!"

"Rax, I don't feel-"

"Rax!  That will be quite enough," Jaeger ordered, then turned his back on his nephew and ignored him completely.  Bobby nearly laughed at the shocked expression on Rax's face; apparently he wasn't used to being rebuked so abruptly, though from what Bobby had seen of him he should be.  "You were saying?" Jaeger addressed Kurt.

Kurt shrugged.  "Well, given that various systems are down, and the time we've spent fighting here, I think it unlikely that the High Evolutionary isn't aware of our presence.  That being the case, where is he?"

The door behind them whirred open, and a low voice said, "Attempting to discern the reason for your presence."

As one, the X-Men and Neo swung around to see a massive man in faded red armor and mask enter the room.  Without hesitation, Rax launched himself at the High Evolutionary.

"I avenge the Neo!" he shouted as he dove at the man, knife in hand.  Out of the corner of his eye, Bobby saw Moran tap Rogue's bare face, then fly off to intercept her teammate just as the High Evolutionary turned his head to view his attacker.  He raised his hand, and both Neo froze in mid-motion, shocked expressions on their faces, then appeared to crumble to dust.

"Stop!" Storm shouted as both the X-Men and the remaining Neo moved to attack.  "We did not seek a confrontation," she said to the High Evolutionary.

He glanced around at the dead and unconscious New Men, and then at what remained of Rax and Moran.  "It would appear otherwise."

"No less than your people deserve, but we didn't begin the fight.  We will finish it though, if that is what you want!" Jaeger said coldly, pulling his own knife and brandishing it.

"He's right, you know," Bobby heard himself saying, and stepped forward to address the Evolutionary himself.  "They started the fight, and if it weren't for our powers returning none of them would be dead.  Which is your fault, after all, because you turned them off in the first place."

The High Evolutionary looked at him as if surprised by his words, and Bobby mustered every bit of courage within him and stood his ground.  "Is that how you see it, then?  I attempted only to equalize the playing field, and give humanity one less reason to hate and fear."

"Then you failed," Bobby said.  "They still hated us.  All you did is remove our ability to defend ourselves and others.  Hate crimes against former mutants are at an all time high, and I understand that most of the mutates in Genosha are dead – the former magistrates simply butchered them.  And that's not all.  Did you even know about the Neo?  Or did you just decimate them as a side effect?"

The High Evolutionary turned his attention to the members of the Neo who were present.  "You are not mutants, then?"

"No, we are not," Jaeger said angrily.  "We harmed no one, and the humans did not even know we existed, so your assertions that you acted for the well-being of all are obvious lies.  You callously slaughtered us, just as you now slew my nephew and my spouse's niece who sought only to stop him.  Why?"

"He attacked," the High Evolutionary replied simply.  "I thought she was moving to assist him."

"You made a mistake," Bobby said, realizing that this would be a great opening.  "You made several, actually.  You didn't know about the Neo, and many of them are dead as a direct result of your actions, including Moran, who was trying to stop Rax.  Mutants died as well; no as many, but that doesn't make them any less dead.  My girlfriend's father was dying of adamantium poisoning when we left; his mutant healing factor was the only thing keeping him alive for years, maybe decades.  It's not that I'm taking the deaths here lightly," Bobby said, gesturing at the bodies on the floor, and noticing that those of the New Men who had regained consciousness were making their way unobtrusively toward the exits.  Others entered, and began ferrying out the bodies of the dead.  "Which is, I'd guess, more than you can say…"

"I will accept the blame for those deaths that occurred immediately; I did at the time," the High Evolutionary stated.  "But the good of the many –"

"Outweighs the good of the few.  Yeah, I've heard it before, but who's benefited?  You thought that suppressing the X-gene would give humanity one less reason to fight; instead, it just made it easier for the normal humans to kill us.  That's why we're here.  We've corrected one of your mistakes by disabling the nullification system," Bobby added, growing in confidence as he realized that he was still alive, something he hadn't really expected once he began speaking.  "You're not a god, but you tried to act like one.  What gave you the right to decide what was best or us, and for all humanity?  You may be nearly omnipotent," and he gestured at the piles of dust that had once been Moran and Rax and sent silent thanks to the writers of Star Trek: TNG for inventing Q, "but you're not omniscient.  You made a mistake, and we paid the price."

"You have evidence to support your claims?" the High Evolutionary asked.

"We do," Storm said.

"We do as well," Jaeger added.

"I will consider your words," the High Evolutionary said.  "Wait here."  He turned and left the room.

"What do we do now?" Bobby asked, and rolled his eyes as Storm serenely sat down on the floor.

"We wait."

Bobby grumbled to himself as he sat down on the floor, "Seems like I've been doing a lot of that lately…" 

*************************************

(Tuesday, 7:20 a.m.)

_Bobby was sitting on the shuttle, lost in his own thoughts and pulling at the collar of his uniform, which wasn't quite as comfortable as he remembered it, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.  Looking up, he saw Rogue, and waved her into the seat next to him._

_"What's up?" he asked._

_"Not much, sugah.  You?"_

_"The same."__  They sat silent for a couple of minutes before they both turned to each other and began talking._

_"Ah just…"_

_"I wanted to…"_

_They both stopped, then burst out laughing, gaining them a dirty look from Betsy, who was trying to sleep in a seat across the aisle._

_"Ladies first," Bobby said gallantly._

_"Ah just wanted ta tell ya, I'm real glad you and Kitty found each other."_

_"Thanks," Bobby replied.  "Remy's not all that bad, either," he added grudgingly._

_"Hey, comin' from you, that means a lot.  Ah think.." Rogue said, her eyes twinkling._

_"Ouch!"_

_"Nah, I just mean ya wanted to skin him alive last year…"_

_"Yeah well, I don't have that many friends who put up with me," Bobby replied, grinning.  "I guess I didn't like seeing one of them all upset."_

_"Yeah well, we have our ups and downs, ya know?  But Ah guess I'll keep him around for as long as he wants ta stay."_

_"What d'you mean?" Bobby asked, concerned.  "I got the impression you guys were doing better…"_

_"Well, it's just - ah was all for this whole thing, seemed the right thing ta do, but now it's all comin' home," she added, wiping her hand across her eyes.  "Ah kinda doubt that when mah powers get turned back on they'll all of a sudden be under control."_

_"Maybe they will?" he said optimistically, but he understood what she was saying.  All too well, in fact.  "Oh, knock it off," he told himself firmly.  "It's not as if your problems are in the same league as Rogue's.  And we talked about it…"  But he was having a hard time convincing himself.  Instead, he turned back to Rogue.  _

_"I don't know quite how to say this, but – maybe it's time you start really working at controlling your powers?  I mean," he added, holding up his hand as she was about to protest, "REALLY working at it?  You've told me Carol could, right?  So it's got to be possible."_

_"Yeah, maybe," Rogue replied, without much hope.  "Not real thrilled about knockingout my teammates tryin', though."_

_"Well, if you need a lab rat, I volunteer," Bobby offered.  "I've got some natural protection, after all – I can always ice up in a hurry if I feel you start drawing energy out."_

_"Thanks, Icicle – I may take ya up on that.  Meanwhile, at least Ah'm outta the mansion – that Arakasi guy kept starin' at me, and it was freakin' me out.   Not sure why, either," she added, puzzled.  "He kinda looks familiar – no, more like he sounds familiar - but Ah can't figure out where from."_

_"Hmm, that's weird," Bobby said, suddenly remembering the conversation he'd walked out on in Jean's office.  "He was asking Jean about you too.  Or having Domina ask, anyway."_

_"What'd he say?" she asked curiously._

_"I don't know," he admitted.  "I was kind of worried about Kit, so I left."_

_"Ah'm kinda surprised you came along."_

_"Yeah," he said disconsolately.  "Me too."_

_Then Kurt joined them and began tickling Rogue, and the conversation turned to other things._

**************************************

(Tuesday, 3:58 p.m.)

Kitty, having been abandoned by Seth and Douglock hours before, was dozing in her chair in the computer room, her head pillowed on her arms, when she was abruptly awakened by a knock at the door.  Startled, she phased through the table in front of her, landing on the floor with a bump as she instinctively solidified. Rubbing her now-bruised arm, she gingerly stood up, shaking her head in irritation before being painfully reminded of why that wasn't a good idea right now.  The knock repeated, and she made her way to the door and opened it.

"You ok, chere?" Remy asked, looking at her with concern.  She thought absently how much more like himself he looked with his eyes restored from gray to their normal red on black color as she carefully nodded, then braced herself for bad news.

"What's the matter, Remy?  I don't think I've ever seen you come in here before, so I know this isn't a social call.  Has there been any report from the team that went to the satellite?"

Remy chuckled.  "Leave it to le Chat to come to the point.  Remy jus' come to tell you Stormy call.  Dey all fine up dere; well, a couple Neo not fine, but all ours are.  Dey jus' waiting for the High Evolutionary t'decide what he want to do."

"Did she say what happened?  I was getting worried when we didn't hear from them," Kitty said.  The room began swimming suddenly and she swayed, to be stopped by Remy grasping her elbow.

"I t'ink you best sit down, chere," he said, and helped her over to the chair.  "Still dizzy, neh?"

"Here and there," she admitted as she sat down.  "It's getting better.  Anyway, what did Storm say?"

"Bobby's fine, Kat, don't fret," he said smiling.  "Made an impression, the way Stormy tells it."

"And Rogue?" she asked, and saw the smile fade a bit.

"She fine too," he said.  "Got her powers back and all."

Kitty wasn't sure what to say.  "I'm sorry…"

"Nothin' to be sorry 'bout," Remy said, standing up and shrugging.  "We work t'ings out, we always do.  An' mebbe her nightmares stop now.  Dat be good, dey get her upset."

"Nightmares?  What nightmares?" Kitty asked curiously.

"She don't know,' he replied, shrugging.  "Or she don't say, anyway.  Jus' says it's somet'in to do with when she was a kid, but she don' know what 'cept dere's a big explosion.  I t'ink she know, but don't want to, you know?  Anyway," Remy continued, changing the subject, "got a message from Henri for you, too.  Says Cailin workin' on Piotr, he be ok but he might not be able to change form no more when she done wit' him.  Remy, he t'ink that might be a good t'ing, no?"

"Yeah, it'll be easier for me to kick his butt if he's flesh and blood," Kitty agreed, seeing the twinkle in Remy's eyes.  "It'll probably be better for him, too."

"Dat's what Henri say.  He also say, if I find you here I should tell you he come and drag you back to the medlab if you don't go get some sleep in a bed.  Now, I take you back to your room so I can tell Henri I did my job, and you sleep dere, non?  Or Henri tell Bobby, and he kick my butt when he get back."

"I really should…" 

"Get some sleep in a real bed, no' a chair," Remy finished, pulling her to her feet.  "De computers, dey not going anywhere.  Not'in' be happening any time soon, and we hear first, right?  So you go t'bed," he said in a tone that brooked no disagreement.

"Why is it people keep telling me that?" Kitty protested, but laughingly accepted Remy assistance in getting to her feet.  She let him take her back to her room, but instead of going to sleep, she began pouring over the schematics Douglock had left for her at her request.  Humming to herself, she smiled.  Maybe she'd have a surprise for Bobby.  She thought she remembered Rogue saying his birthday was coming up soon…

****************************

(Tuesday, 5:15 a.m.)

_Bobby trying to sneak out of bed woke her in the morning, and she glared at him accusingly._

_"Sorry," he said, shrugging, a sheepish grin on his face.  "I tried not to wake you."_

_"That's why you're being glared at," she countered.  "Did you think I wouldn't want to say goodbye?"_

_"I…well, I…I was going to leave a note…"_

_Kitty raised her eyebrows, and he shrugged again and sat back down on the bed._

_"It's not I didn't want to say goodbye, Kit, I just figured you needed the sleep…" he said, reaching out and running a hand down her face.  Unable to stay angry, she leaned into it instead._

_"I know.  And it's sweet, but I'll need to get up soon anyway.  And I wouldn't want you to leave without a goodbye," she said, smiling.  If she had to be honest with herself, she was scared.  Not the normal just-before-a-mission nerves she knew most people experienced, but really frightened.  She'd come so close to losing him just days before, what with Piotr's attack, her own brush with the Legacy cure, and her own stubbornness, that she wanted him with her now, not off into danger without her.  But she bit her tongue, knowing he needed to go, both for the team's needs and his own._

_She marveled once again at how far they'd come in the brief time they'd known each other.  Looking into his eyes, she felt like she could see into the real Bobby Drake, the one behind the mask he kept up that fooled so many people.  And she liked what she saw there.  In fact, she liked the whole package – she enjoyed the practical joker who wasn't too embarrassed to karaoke her in the middle of the medlab as much as she liked the sensitive, intelligent guy she'd discovered within._

_They'd spent the previous afternoon dozing and chatting in turns, though they'd emerged in the evening for supper (she didn't have much of an appetite yet, but she managed some soup) and to answer the good natured harassment of their friends over Bobby's performance that morning and their subsequent disappearance.  Finally, when she'd gotten tired again, they'd gone back to her room.  She'd made a hesitant suggestion as to how they could spend the rest of the night, but a few minutes later it was obvious to them both that she really wasn't up to any sudden movements and they'd gone to sleep instead.  Which brought them back to where they were, now…_

_"Well, so where's my goodbye?" Bobby quipped, raising his eyebrows and grinning expectantly.  "Gotta get going, you know – gotta save the world before breakfast and be home by lunch!"_

_"High opinion of yourself today?"___

_"Hardly," he said, the façade dropping.  "Kit, are you sure…"_

_"Yes, I'm sure," she replied, rolling her eyes.  "And __Logan__ is sure, and Jean is sure, and…"_

_"And Betsy complained that she really didn't want to trust her fate on my ability to refrain from telling the High Evolutionary knock knock jokes," he said nervously._

_"Yeah, I know, I was there, remember?  And Kurt told her to act her age," Kitty replied in a no-nonsense tone.  "And then Rax made some stupid comment, and Seth threatened to punch him.  I kinda wish he had," Kitty said speculatively.  "I'd pay admission to see that."_

_"Yeah, me too," Bobby replied, grinning at the memory of Seth pulling Rax out of his chair by his collar.  Kitty saw him glance at the clock, and knew he was going to have to scramble to be on time for the final mission briefing.  Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself to her feet, prepared for the head-spinning and nausea of the evening before.  She was relieved when it didn't come as she'd expected, and crossed the small space between herself and Bobby of her own accord._

_"Feeling better?" Bobby asked as she stood in front of him, smiling._

_"Definitely," she replied.  "Sure you have to leave now?" she joked._

_"Unfortunately," he said with a grimace.  "But I'll be back soon…assuming, that is, that you guys don't blow up the satellite with us on it."_

_"Hmmm, I think I can promise that," she said speculatively, then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.  He joined in enthusiastically, and when they finally broke apart she said, "Ok, you've convinced me; I'll make sure they don't explode the satellite, no matter what."_

_"Well, THAT's a relief," Bobby replied._

_"Take care, ok?"_

_"You too."___

_Bobby turned and walked to the door.  Glancing over his shoulder, he said, "No blowing up the shuttle, either…"_

_"Oh maaaaan, you NEVER let me have any fun!" she said, and could hear his laugher as he left the room and continued down the hall._

_The rest of the morning had been uneventful.  Douglock had hacked into the satellite's systems without any difficulty, and she and Seth had gotten busy disabling the relevant systems while Douglock, at her request, downloaded some data she was interested in.  And then they sat back to wait…_

_She hated waiting.  It made her feel helpless, a sensation she wasn't accustomed to and which made her more than a little irritable.  But she stayed in the computer room, even after Seth and Douglock had gone, just in case there was anything she could do that would make a difference._

_With a lot of time on her hands, she'd finished her homework and e-mailed it off to her professors along with a note that she'd been in an accident and wouldn't be back for a few days.  One had replied, which she found gratifying, saying that he hoped she'd be feeling better soon and reminding her that she had a project due the following week – let him know if she'd need an extension.  _

_She played around with her newly-returned powers, trying to regain her control.  While part of her was thrilled that she was back to what passed for normal for her, the return of her powers caused her to do some serious thinking about what she wanted to do next._

_"What AM I going to do, Lockheed?" she asked the dragon, who was curled up on a pile of printouts on the desk.  He raised his head slightly, acknowledging her, and cooed to encourage her to continue._

_"Do I stay here?  I can't say I really want to be here anymore, not really.  What's left for me here?  Oh, Kurt's here, but he's busy most of the time – I wonder if he'll continue at the seminary now that he's a fuzzy elf again?  Probably not," she mused, still amazed that he'd began his studies there at all, despite the knowledge that he was deeply religious.  "I don't think Kurt's got what it takes to be a priest, somehow – and I'll bet Amanda would agree!  But really, who else is there?  This isn't my team anymore.  The knee-jerk reaction we all had when we disbanded Excalibur and returned to the X-Men just doesn't make sense to me now, if it ever did.  And it's not like I want to go back," she added as Lockheed pointed at the picture of Excalibur's old lighthouse that hung on the wall.  "Like I told Bobby, I just don't think I want this type of life, not anymore."_

_"And then there's Piotr.  I really don't want to be around him; I mean, I hope he makes it through the Legacy cure ok, and that he gets the help he needs, but he's used up all the chances I was willing to give him.  Did you know, Ororo actually asked me if I planned to go down to the holding cell and see him?  I didn't even trust myself to answer.  Oh, I've got a few things to say to him, but after that – well, let's just say if I see him any time in the next five years it'll be too soon. I just don't trust him anymore, Lockheed, not around me, and definitely not around Bobby.  But since he'll obviously be staying, he's going to be hard to avoid."_

_"But what else can I do?  No responses to the resumes I sent out – of course, the mail delivery here is so erratic that that doesn't mean much, and people don't exactly take messages well, but still, you need a job to get an apartment.  And Xavier's is paying my tuition…yeah, I know Dragon," she replied in response to an exasperated look from Lockheed.  "They DID offer me a scholarship at NYSE, so it's not like I need Xavier's to pay the tuition bills, but I do need a job.  Maybe I could move in with one of the girls in my class?  I'll bet Logan would lend me some money to get started – it goes against the grain to ask though."_

_"Or I could move in with Bobby…"  She sat up abruptly, causing her to wince at the pain that split through her head.  She really had no idea where that idea had come from.  Even when she'd dated Pete she'd kept her own room and made do with visiting – although visiting in Muir Island was a simple matter of phasing through a few empty rooms between her room and his.  She just hadn't felt ready for that type of commitment; there was something awfully final about giving up her own space and sharing someone else's.  But now…_

_Lockheed was nodding encouragement, and she carefully shook her head, grinning at him.  "You sure like him, Dragon – I wonder why?  But anyway, it's not like he's even asked, and I'm not sure I'd agree if he did.  Logan and Jean are going to need help with the baby, and I've got responsibilities here…oh, stop that now!" she laughed as Lockheed rolled his eyes at her.  "Ok, I won't rule out the idea.  But I refuse to sponge off him or __Logan__, so let's see what kind of jobs are online, ok?"  _

_She spent the next few hours sending out resumes while monitoring the satellite's systems, until she finally fell asleep at the computer._

_*************************************_

(Tuesday, 6:15 p.m.)

They'd been sitting around for hours, and Bobby was bored.

It was too quiet, he decided.  The Neo were talking quietly among themselves now, thought they'd been arguing earlier.  Neither Jaeger or Static had had much to say to the X-Men since the High Evolutionary had left, although Amarantha had come over for a while and asked him some peculiar questions about dating customs amongst spikes that had made him distinctly uncomfortable until he realized she was referring to her brother and Jubilee.  But Jaeger had had little to say when Bobby had walked over to talk to him, no doubt still upset about the deaths of both heirs apparent although he had said that he didn't hold the X-Men responsible.  

He'd never gotten along exceptionally well with either Ororo or Betsy, and really had little to say to either; nor, apparently, did either of them have much to say to anyone else, though he'd heard Betsy and Kurt discussing the news in Britain and some gossip regarding people Kurt had known when he'd been with Excalibur.  

Kurt had bamfed back to the shuttle for food about an hour ago, and had obligingly brought back some cards, but Bobby's attempt to start a game of poker had fizzled out under Ororo's disapproving glare when he discovered that only Rogue and Kurt actually knew how to play, although Amarantha had been willing to learn.  One of the New Men had come in a while earlier and requested the evidence Ororo and Jaeger had promised, and Bobby had taken the opportunity to go back to the shuttle and retrieve it, welcoming the change of scenery even if had only lasted a few minutes.  After he'd returned with the files, she'd thanked him and left, and they hadn't heard anything from the High Evolutionary since.

So now he was sitting and playing solitaire, which he really preferred to play on the computer, while Rogue and Kurt chatted.

It left him with entirely too much time to think.  And thinking wasn't something Bobby really felt like doing right now.  

He was worried about Kitty; he knew Ororo had spoken with Jean, who'd assured her that Kitty was doing fine, but he had an inner conviction that if she was resting at all, it was only because she'd fallen asleep in front of a computer again.  And worrying about Kitty reminded him that he had to get back to his 'real' life in a few days, definitely by the beginning of next week, which made him wonder how their relationship would work long-term with her in Westchester and him in Port Jefferson.   He was just reassuring himself that it wasn't as if they were going to be cross-country from each other when the door opened, and the High Evolutionary entered.

"I have reviewed the data you brought," he said before anyone even had time to react.  "It would appear that you are correct; the experiment was a failure.  It is clear that humanity will find differences even when there are none."

"Experiment?" Jaeger asked, coldly.  "My people lie dead, and you refer to it as a failed experiment?"

"I regret their loss, but there is nothing I can do to restore them.  I assure you, however, that their deaths were unplanned.  Had I known of your people, I would have adjusted the nullification system to exclude them.  You are correct; the Neo pose no threat to humanity; indeed, it would appear that you pose a greater threat to yourselves than you do to humans.  It is something you might wish to consider before your clans begin the next round of warfare."

"I will relay your concerns to our Domina.  But change comes slowly to us," Jaeger said in a cold tone of voice.

"No more or less slowly than it does to humanity," the High Evolutionary stated, shaking his head.  "In any case, you may all leave with my assurances that I will not reinitiate the systems your people so adroitly disabled."  He turned and walked out of the room, and the door closed behind him.

"That's it?" Bobby asked of no one in particular.  "What do we do now?"

"Herr Drake, I should have thought you the last person to raise that question.  We go home.  What you do once we get there is entirely up to you."

*******************************

(Tuesday, 10:45 p.m.)

Kitty heard the door of her room open, and opened her eyes.  "Bobby?" she asked, trying to focus.

"Who else?" he replied as he set his bag down on the floor and walked over to sit down on the bed.  He was still wearing his blue and white spandex uniform, and she admired the way he looked in it.  While she may have decided she didn't want to be a full-time X-Man anymore, there were definitely things she was going to miss.

"Well, you know, I 'do' live in the middle of an X-Men migration pattern," she joked, taking his hand, which was cold.  Given some harassment she'd heard him receive from others, she assumed it was his natural state.  She resolved to invest in some sweaters and an electric blanket.  "How'd things go?"

"Details tomorrow," he said, leaning in closer.  "But all the X-Men returned intact, and the High Evolutionary more or less apologized for the failed experiment."

"Experiment?" she choked, but was cut off before she could say anything else by Bobby, who held up his hand.  

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better," she assured him, then yawned.

"I'm sorry I woke you," he said contritely.  "Want me to go?"

"No," she assured him.  "And I'm not THAT tired…".

"Good," he said smiling.  "Because neither am I."


	29. Chapter 29

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any other major characters in this story, belong to Marvel. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff.   
Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Authors Note:  One more chapter to go, so if you DO want a sequel, or you've been reading this story all along and haven't reviewed or e-mailed, here's your next-to-last chance!  
______________________________________________________________________________________   


**Just a Couple of Kids, After All...**   
by Sue Penkivech

**Chapter 29**   
Bobby woke up disoriented the following morning with a vague feeling that something had changed. He thought about it for a few moments while he tried to reach an itch just out of reach on his back. His arm bumped a really warm body beside him, and he froze. 

"Oh yeah, Kitty," he remembered and relaxed, then turned over to look at her. Her long hair was spread out around her head on the pillow, and he could see the back of her head and the bandage she still had on her left temple. A smile spread on his face, and he curled up behind her, slowly inching one arm under her pillow while he wrapped the other around her. She shivered a little, and pulled the blanket up higher, and he realized that she really felt very warm, then suddenly remembered the events of the previous day. 

And night. He smiled even broader, and his hand began tracing patterns over Kit's stomach, incrementally working his way higher and higher until he reached her breasts. She made a sleepy sound of contentment and snuggled backwards until there was no space between them, and Bobby felt as if he'd rather like to stay in bed for the rest of his life. 

Until an uncomfortable feeling reminded him that he needed to use the bathroom. And soon. 

Grumbling to himself, he crawled out of bed, shivering in the cool morning air. Someone (he suspected Lockheed, as the dragon was stretched out on the foot of the bed) had opened the window during the night and declined to close it again. 

"Hey dragon," he grumbled quietly as he pulled on the bathrobe he'd had the foresight to get from his room the night before, and Lockheed raised his head to peer at him from beneath half-lidded eyes. "Just because they call me Iceman doesn't mean I like to wake up cold. And I'm betting Kit doesn't, either. Not very considerate of you." 

Lockheed made a sound Bobby interpreted as "Not very considerate of you to wake me up over it either," and dropped his head back onto the bed. 

Chuckling silently over the exchange, Bobby closed the window and left the room, making his way to the bathroom in the other wing of the Mansion. While he knew he technically could use the bathroom on this side, given his status as a legitimate guest of someone with a room here, he didn't much feel like dealing with the consequences of walking in on someone who wasn't expecting him. He pulled his bathrobe tighter around him, shivering. 

This was going to take some getting used to again, he thought ruefully. He just hoped it wasn't as bad as it was the first time around; he'd felt like he was freezing for months when his powers had first surfaced, until his body had adjusted to the cold. After that, he really hadn't felt it; he'd been able to control his body temperature easily enough until Loki had jumped up his powers, and he'd gone through the whole thing again. Luckily, Kit hadn't complained, just jokingly told him that no, he wasn't allowed to warm his cold feet on her. He'd done it anyway, quipping that if she wanted someone to warm HER feet on, she should have stayed with Pete Wisdom, and was rewarded with a pillow to the head. 

He'd used the excuse to "warm" other portions of his body, as well, and if the process wasn't quite as rewarding as it had been a couple of days before, well, that certainly wasn't her fault. And he wasn't complaining, either. Apparently it made a "huge" difference when your partner was understanding. 

Bobby sighed, making his way back to Kit's room, his mission to the bathroom complete. He sincerely hoped "she" wasn't complaining. He opened the door to her room slowly, and was disappointed to see she was no longer in bed, but sitting at her desk pouring over some papers. As she turned, he saw a blush on her face. 

"What're you up to?" he asked, pretending to be suspicious. 

"Umm, nothing," she said, standing up and coming over to him, then wrapping her arms around his neck. 

"Uh huh, sure..." he replied, pulling her closer. Damn, she felt warm. His mind played with the idea of picking her up, carrying her back to bed, and staying there with her until he felt warm as well, however long that took. She pulled back, grinning, and phased out of his arms. 

"You're freezing!" she accused him, and laughed as he reached out to pull her back and his hand went through her body. 

"I KNOW I'm freezing! Want to warm me up?" he begged. 

"Hmmm, I could..." she considered, and laughed as he tried to grab her again and she once again phased out of reach. "Start out at a warmer temperature, though, ok?" 

He concentrated for a second, then shook his head. "Can't," he shrugged when he realized he'd only raised his temperature by a couple of degrees. 

"Why not?" she asked, concerned, and he realized she thought he'd been joking around. 

"I don't know. Don't worry," he added, seeing the look on her face. "I'll probably be back up to a nice, toasty 95 degrees in no time - my body's just adjusting. It's happened before," he added. "When I first manifested I was freezing for months." 

"Months?" she gaped doubtfully, and he chuckled. 

"I don't think it'll take that long," Bobby reassured her. "Probably a couple of days, though, considering my powers have been 'off' for nearly a year. It happened in the shuttle on the way home, too - everyone pooled their blankets and coats, they were complaining I was dropping the temperature in the shuttle. It's not that bad," he assured her, seeing sympathy in her eyes. "Worse for you than for me, actually - I'm kinda used to it, you know?" 

"Yeah, I suppose," she said, and he could see her relax. "How about a hot shower? Would that help?" 

A grin formed on his face. He had only a couple of days of vacation left; not much time, and he didn't plan on wasting any of it. "With company?" 

Kitty grinned back. "Well, I DID say I'd help you warm up, didn't I?" She tidied up the papers she'd been looking at quickly, as he tried to catch a glimpse of them over her shoulder. 

"What are those?" he asked, not understanding the diagrams. 

"Oh, just something for school," she said quickly, putting the pile into her desk drawer. "Come on - let's get you warmed up." 

"Might take more than a shower," he warned her, hoping he'd like her reply. 

"Then I guess I'll have to come up with another idea," she said, grabbing her towel and shower kit and grinning over her shoulder at him. "I wonder if anyone around here has an electric blanket?" 

"I like the way you think," he replied, and held the door open for her. 

************************************ 

"Warmer now?" Kitty asked some time later, and laughed as Bobby stretched out on the bed, looking at peace with the universe. 

"Ummhmm," he replied, then grinned at her. "It might happen again, though - probably will..." 

"Guess I'll have to teach you some biofeedback," she answered, pretending not to understand his meaning. 

"Screw biofeedback - come here!" he said, pulling her over on top of him. She considered phasing out of his grasp, but changed her mind, deciding to enjoy the shared warmth while he still had it to share. 

"Lucky Rogue had an electric blanket," she said, propping head up by putting her elbows on his chest and looking down at him. 

"I'll invest in one," he promised, and she laughed and then abruptly sobered, a thought passing through her mind. She rolled off and lay down beside him instead. 

"What's wrong?" Bobby asked. 

"When do you have to leave? I mean, I almost forgot you were only here on vacation..." 

"I...well you see..." Bobby mumbled, and Kitty could tell he'd nearly forgotten as well. "I should leave by Sunday, at the latest," he admitted. 

"Oh. That's it, then," she sighed, realizing that there was no way she was going to get her "present" working by then. 

"What do you mean?" Bobby asked, confused. "It's not like we'll never see each other again - unless that's what you want? Look, I know the cold's a drag, but it'll get better...I really DO have an almost normal body temperature most of the time..." 

"No! I mean, yes - I just..." Kitty stammered. Just then, there was a knock at the door. 

"I quit!" Bobby yelled loudly to no one in particular and pulled the pillow over his head. 

"Shhh!" Kitty said, pulling it back off again. "Who is it?" she asked, shrugging apologetically at Bobby, who looked really upset. 

"Excuse me, mein freunds, but I have been asked to ascertain whether or not you plan to attend the debriefing slash meeting later this morning, and I thought that you would prefer I knock to the alternative?" she heard. 

"Oh, hi Kurt. We'll be there in a bit, ok?" 

"No we won't," Bobby grumbled, and Kitty realized that the temperature of the room had dropped again. 

"I SAID in a bit, didn't I?" she replied, as Kurt acknowledged her answer and left, the smell of sulfur floating in under the door as proof. 

Bobby took a deep breath before he answered. "Look, Kit, I understand. I mean, I'm gonna be leaving anyway - if you don't want to see me again, it's ok. I won't make a pest of myself." 

She stared at him for a minute before answering, taking in his crestfallen look and the goosebumps that had formed on his chest and arms, then started giggling. 

"Bobby, knock it off!" 

"What?" he gaped. 

"All I meant is that I'm bummed you're going to leave," Kitty answered, trying to stop laughing. "Of course I want to see you again - unless this is your way of telling me you're not interested in seeing me anymore?" she asked, more to get him on the defensive than because she believed it. 

"No! That's the last thing I want! I just thought..." 

"No, you didn't," she interrupted, leaving him with his mouth open. "You didn't think. But I'll forgive you. I'm not going anywhere, Bobby Drake - not until you want me to, anyway." 

She saw his face brighten, and the air stopped growing colder, much to her relief. "Never happen," he said confidently, pulling her close. "What are you going to do?" he asked suddenly. "Are you going back to the X-Men? Or are you planning to stay in school." 

"School, definitely. Beyond that - I don't know," she admitted. "Like I told you before - I really don't want to be a full time X-Man anymore. Or even a part time one. But I don't know..." 

"C'mon, guys, get out of bed already!" Jubilee said from outside the door. "You gonna catch breakfast before the meeting or what?" 

"We're coming!" Bobby and Kitty yelled in unison. 

"That's WAAAYYY more information than I needed!" she yelled in reply. 

"Gonna kill her," Bobby grumbled as he got out of bed and began getting dressed. 

"Only if I don't do it first," Kitty clarified, as she went to the closet, pulled out a large NYCE sweatshirt and tossed it to him. 

"What's this for?" he asked, his teeth chattering. 

"I just spent an awful lot of time warming you up," she said, smiling. "Let's see if you can save some of it for later." 

Bobby smiled his thanks and pulled it over his head, then walked over to where she was standing in front of the closet and wrapped his arms around her. 

"What'd I ever do to deserve you?" he asked. 

"Hmm. Broke your laptop intentionally, picked a couple of locks, applauded when I remembered to open the door, punched your friend in the nose...do you want me to keep going?" Kitty asked. 

Bobby was laughing too hard to answer at first, but finally managed to answer, "Sure". 

Kitty turned around to face him. "Stood up for me, believed in me, talked to me when you thought I was sleeping, faced down Moira to see me..." 

"Well, actually, I waited until she was gone," Bobby corrected. 

"Don't interrupt me with facts, I'm on a roll!" she protested, then continued. "Karaoke'd me - where did you get that song, anyway? - made friends with my dragon, and showed me I didn't have to be afraid of falling in love again. Hmm, I think that's enough," she concluded, smiling at him. "In any case, you're stuck with me now." 

"You make it sound like you're a stray cat," he said, pulling her close, and she recognized it as something she'd said to him what seemed like years ago. 

"It goes with the name, I guess," she replied, shrugging. 

"Then I guess we're both lucky I love stray cats," he answered. "Or at least this one." 

A few minutes later, Logan wandered by the door and sniffed to see if they were still there, thinking he'd stop and remind them that Hank wanted to see Kitty before the meeting. Smiling, he decided not to interrupt. 

************************************* 

When they finally broke apart, Bobby looked down at Kitty and grimaced. 

"Well, that's a look I didn't expect," she said jokingly. 

"Nah, just remembered you said Hank wanted to see you this morning. We'd better get moving if we're going to stop at the medlab before the meeting." 

"We could just conveniently forget?" Kitty said hopefully, but Bobby just glared at her. 

"Uh uh. The big blue guy wants to see you; I'M certainly not going to argue with him." 

"Thought you were supposed to be on my side," she grumbled as they walked out of the room. 

"Only when you're right, hon!" Bobby replied, and laughed as she stuck her tongue out at him. She smiled sweetly, and he knew he was in for it. 

"Maybe you're right. While we're there we can ask him about your temperature swings..." 

"Oh, we don't need to bother him about that," Bobby said quickly. 

"What, I don't get to worry about you?" Kitty retorted. "If you don't ask, I will. And maybe he can poke you with needles, and stick you in a spinning dryer vat, and..." 

"Did anyone ever tell you you're vindictive?" Bobby asked, wincing. 

"Well," she shrugged, "I AM Logan's daughter, for all intents and purposes. And my best friend growing up was a demon sorceress. What did you expect?" 

Bobby just shivered, and this time it wasn't from the cold. They arrived at the medlab, and he opened the door for Kitty to enter. 

"Ah, Katherine, I had begun to assume I would have to ascertain your whereabouts and compel you to keep your appointment once again," Hank said. Bobby grinned. It was nice to see Hank back to his typical furry blue self again. He just looked, well, "right" this way. "And Robert, you must apprise me of the events surrounding your encounter with the High Evolutionary yesterday. While Storm relayed a brief précis, I would welcome your more imaginative rendition." 

"You need to check Bobby, too," Kitty said as Hank motioned her to an exam table and she hopped up on it. "His temperature keeps going up and down." 

"Drastically?" Hank asked, glancing over, and Bobby shrugged in response. 

"Seems to be varying between 95 and about 50," he replied. 

"Hmm, not especially surprising, I suppose, considering that your powers were artificially augmented at one point. I myself have been shedding furiously all morning, and Betsy complained that while her telepathic abilities have been functioning properly, the quasi-teleportational abilities she acquired from the Crimson Dawn have been intermittently malfunctioning as well." Bobby had begun to get his hopes up; perhaps Hank wouldn't subject him to a battery of tests after all, when Hank continued. "Still, discretion seems best under the circumstances. Robert, please have a seat on the adjacent exam table. I'll be with you as soon as I complete my examination of your considerably more attractive companion." 

"I see where I rate," Bobby grumbled, hopping up on the table, while Kitty said, "That's ok, Hank - you can skip me, I'm fine." 

"All in their allotted time," Hank replied calmly. "As I told Piotr earlier, some things cannot and should not be ignored," he added, as he began taking a blood sample from Kitty's arm. 

"Piotr? Is he here?" Kitty asked, sitting up abruptly. 

"In the adjacent room," Hank said, pushing her back. "And I must ask that you remain calm, Katherine, or I will be forced to redo your examination to establish a baseline. If you have anything you wish to communicate to him, you may visit while I examine Robert." Bobby looked at Kitty's face, watching the disparate emotions wash over it. 

"Maybe I will," she said finally. 

"Do you want me to come with you?" Bobby asked, not really wanting Kitty in a room alone with the man he considered a psychopath. 

"He is restrained," Hank assured her. "And, despite young Cailin's predictions, is still wearing an inhibitor collar." 

Kitty seem to consider Bobby's offer for a moment, but shook her head. 

"No, I think what I have to say won't take long. Don't leave without me though, ok?" 

Hank chuckled before Bobby could answer. "Somehow, I believe Robert unwilling to leave your side, let alone the immediate vicinity. Returning to the reason for your visit, however, how are your headaches and other concussion related symptoms? Have you experienced any difficulties with the return of your phasing abilities?" 

"Better," she assured him, sitting up. "Still a nagging headache, but the dizziness and nausea seem to be gone. Everything appears to be on the mend. I'm intangible by default, again, but I'm really not having any trouble controlling it. Am I done now?" 

"Well, I'd considered repeating your favorite examination, but I suppose I can forego subjecting you to claustrophobia for now..." Hank replied, a mock serious expression on his face. "I had best examine Robert, before he develops a complex over my lack of attentiveness to his temperature fluctuations." 

"Hey, I understood and resent that!" Bobby objected, laughing. "So, my best friend wants to ogle my girlfriend instead of me - I can certainly appreciate that! I'd rather look at her too. In fact, why don't you just forget about it - I'm fine..." he tapered off as he found both Hank and Kitty glaring at him. 

"You dragged me in here," Kitty reminded him. "Now it's your turn. Sooner or later Rogue is going to want her electric blanket back, you know - and once you leave you won't have me to warm you up anymore." 

"Maybe you could come with me?" Bobby said before thinking, and Kitty laughed. 

"Sure, you only want me for my body heat," she said, pretending to be crushed. 

"Perhaps you two could discuss your potential cohabitation arrangements later?" Hank asked, feigning irritation as he wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Bobby's arm and affixed another censor, which Bobby recognized as the one Hank used to monitor body temperature, to his forehead. "I am, after all, a very busy man, and would like to attend the assembly this morning, which, I believe, has already begun." 

"Sure," Bobby answered, looking at Kitty and trying to decide how she felt about his impromptu offer. He wasn't sure, but he thought she looked almost pleased. It was encouraging, he decided, and felt his temperature increase again. 

"Hmmm," Hank said, noting the change. "It would appear that these fluctuations are at least partially emotionally induced?" 

"Translation?" Bobby requested, as Kitty hopped down off her table and made her way across the lab to the room Piotr was in. His temperature dropped again. 

Hank sighed. "Never mind, you inadvertently answered my question. But, putting my next one in words you are less likely to take exception to, are you getting cold when you aren't upset, or only when you are?" 

"Hmm? Oh, no, it happens on and off. Sometimes it's with my mood, sometimes not," Bobby answered, more interested in what Kitty could be talking with Piotr about than what Hank had to say. 

"I'd like to do a lab workup on you," Hank said, and Bobby heard him sigh. "Bobby, please return your attention to your exam? Kitty is quite capable of taking care of herself." 

"That's why she just spent a couple of days in here, right?" Bobby grumbled, but tried to pay attention to what Hank was saying. "I'm just worried, ok?" 

"I noticed," Hank replied. "Your temperature has dropped approximately ten degrees in the last minute. Are you uncomfortable?" 

"Not really," Bobby replied, though he was growing a bit cold. "It's irritating, but not really uncomfortable, if you know what I mean? I mean, I 'feel' it, but it's not really 'bothering' me." 

"Hmmm. How cold do you get before you begin experiencing symptoms?" 

"Shivering, you mean?" At Hank's nod, he considered it. "About 65 degrees, I think. Which is lower than it was yesterday; I started noticing goosebumps on the shuttle at about 75. Is something wrong?" he asked, growing concerned. "I mean, I've had this happen before..." 

"I don't think so," Hank assured him. "It would appear that your body is just readjusting to the reactivation of your mutation. However," he added, holding up his hand as Bobby began to jump off the table, "if you should still be experiencing these symptoms two weeks from now, I would like to revisit the issue to determine if there is some other factor affecting you." 

"Yeah, sure Hank, no problem," Bobby replied, relieved that he was getting off so easily. 

"And to ensure that you follow through with my instructions, I will be relaying them to Kitty as well," Hank added smugly. 

"Hey, that's not fair!" Bobby objected, and Hank chuckled. 

"I know you too well, my friend. Now, before Kitty returns, may I ask you a question?" 

"You will anyway," Bobby replied, but he leaned back against the table, still glancing occasionally at the door Kitty had closed behind her. 

"Did my ears mistake me, or did you just ask her to move in with you?" 

"Umm. yeah?" Bobby said self-consciously. "I didn't mean to - well, I did, but not here. It just slipped out." 

"Well, just in case it escaped your notice," Hank replied, a grin forming on his face, "she didn't say no." 

"She didn't say yes either," Bobby contested. 

"So ask again later in a properly romantic setting," Hank said encouragingly. "And, if I may make a suggestion, be certain she knows you are serious, please?" 

"Will do," Bobby said quickly, as Kitty came out the door, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. She smiled at him, and he relaxed. 

"Ready to go?" he asked her. 

"You bet," she replied. "Are you coming, Hank?" 

"I'll be there shortly," he replied, smiling. "And Kitty," he added, and Bobby cringed. 

"Yes?" 

"If he's experiencing excessive and unintentional temperature fluctuations two weeks from now, I want to see him again." 

Bobby cringed as Kitty looked at him pointedly. "I'll make sure of it," she assured Hank. 

******************************************* 

When Bobby and Kitty finally arrived at the conference room, the meeting had already begun, but seemed to be taking a brief recess. 

"Glad you could finally make it," Logan leaned over and said as they took chairs next to him. 

"Oh shush!" Kitty said, blushing. She looked him over, and was relieved to see he looked like his old self again. "What'd we miss?" 

"Nothin' really," he shrugged. "A lot of grandstanding. The Neo are pissed about Moran - don't seem like anyone's upset about Rax - and Domina wants to go back up and have a few choice words with the High Evolutionary, but if she does she'll be doin' it without us. Arakasi's acting weird - keeps looking around as if he's expectin' someone, but pretty much everyone's here. We had to call a break - Jean had to excuse herself for a few minutes." 

"Morning sickness?" Kitty guessed. 

"Got it in one, kid." Logan said, wrinkling his nose. "Times like these I could do without the enhanced senses." 

"Rogue isn't here," Bobby leaned over and said. 

"Yeah, she said she'd be late," Logan replied, shrugging. "Had a phone call to take - apparently Mystique disappeared from where they were holding her, and Valerie Cooper wanted to know if Rogue might have any idea where she went off to." 

"I'll betcha any money that's who's Arakasi's looking for," Bobby said to Kitty, and she looked at him, confused. 

"Why?" she asked, trying to figure out what the elderly Neo could want with Rogue. 

"Bobby! Kitty! You're here!" she heard, and was nearly knocked of her chair by Cailin, with Diego trailing along in her wake. 

"Hey kiddo, what are you up to?" Kitty asked, ruffling the girl's hair, causing her to giggle. 

"Not much," Cailin answered between giggles as she tried to squirm away from Bobby, who had reached over and started tickling her. "I fixed that guy you were so worried about," she said, addressing Bobby. "I don't think he'll be able to switch forms any more, but he's in his normal one right now. Dr. Hank said it shouldn't be a problem." 

Kitty looked up and tried to catch Bobby's eyes. She didn't realize he'd been responsible for getting Piotr help, and was surprised, under the circumstances, that he had. Piotr certainly hadn't seemed grateful. Still not acknowledging that he'd done anything wrong other than injure her, he'd spent several minutes warning her away from Bobby before rambling at length about how he would have preferred to be a dead hero than a powerless human. At least he'd mentioned that he'd be staying with the X-Men indefinitely, as Jean had insisted on regular therapy sessions with Dr. Samson. After listening to him complain incessantly, she'd taken her turn and warned him to stay away from her, and Bobby too. While she was sorry their friendship was over, she had her own life to lead, and she didn't want him in it. Not anymore. 

Bobby avoided her gaze, however, and replied to Cailin instead. 

"That's great, munchkin. And how about you, guy?" he asked Diego. 

"Played a good prank on Jubilee," the boy grinned. "You might want to get a camera ready tomorrow morning for after her shower." 

"What color?" Bobby asked hopefully. 

Diego shrugged and grinned again. "Fluorescent yellow. What else? We figured it'd match her coat." 

Bobby high-fived him, and Kitty and Logan laughed. 

"What'd she do to deserve that?" Logan asked. 

Cailin looked as if she were going to sulk. "Dumped us for my brother. We were having FUN with Jubilee while he was doing the computer stuff with you, but as soon as you guys finished she forgot all about us again." 

"And now she just ignores us completely," Diego inserted. "Bet she won't be able to ignore this, though!" 

"Not that it matters much," Cailin complained. "We're leaving tomorrow anyway. I don't want to go - I want to stay with Dr. Hank and learn everything he knows about flats and spikes. He says he's not a real doctor," she added, rolling her eyes, "but he sure knows a lot. But Domina says spikes don't foster Neo, so I've gotta go too. Anyway, I figured if Jubilee and Seth stay together we might see her again, so we thought we should make sure she remembers us." 

"I'm guessing she won't forget fluorescent yellow hair easily," Kitty assured them, laughing. "Are you leaving so soon, then?" 

"Yeah," Diego grumbled. "Domina's mad about Moran. Now she's gotta train a new successor, and that's a pain. Too many of the power absorbers either burn themselves out or blow themselves up, and there aren't a whole lot of them to begin with." 

"Burn themselves out?" Kitty asked. "What do you mean?" 

"You know - either burn out their gift or lose their control over it," Diego answered, shrugging. "Glad I'm not an absorber." 

"What's your trick?" Logan asked. 

"My...oh, you mean my ability? I'm a pyrokinetic," Diego said proudly, holding out his hand. His forehead wrinkled, and a small flame appeared in the middle of it. He made it spiral around a few times, and Kitty, Bobby, and Logan applauded politely as the boy closed his hand, putting the fire out. 

"Very cool," Bobby said. 

"Yeah, only he doesn't control it very well yet," Cailin teased. Diego opened his mouth to protest, but just then Jean entered, her face still tinged with green, and the room grew quiet. Cailin and Diego returned to their seats down the table. 

"I apologize," she said, taking her seat at the head of the table. "Where were we?" 

"Discussin' the news," Logan said, leaning back in his chair, and Jean looked at him gratefully. 

"Thanks, Logan," she said. "As I mentioned before, it seems that the Legacy virus has been nullified in its victims, thanks to the joint efforts of our medical experts," she nodded at Moira and Hank, who'd come in while they were talking, and smiled broadly at Cailin, who blushed. "While the public response has been largely positive - the Friends of Humanity are calling it a hoax, of course - the political ramifications cannot be ignored. The remaining Genoshan mutates have flocked to Magneto's banner in droves, determined to turn the tables on the magistrates who took advantage of the recent situation to decimate them. With that kind of power behind him, it seems unlikely that Magneto will be content to remain in Genosha -" 

"What business is this of ours?" Domina asked. "There are no Neo in Genosha, or in any of the areas that surround it. If you spikes wish to go spy on Magneto, it is your concern. Mine is the training of my next successor." 

"Have you chosen her, then?" Ororo asked. Just then, Rogue and Gambit walked through the door. 

"I have," Arakasi said, standing up and pointing at Rogue. "Will you accept your birthright among the Neo?" he asked, and all eyes in the room turned to stare at her. 

********************* 

Bobby was taken aback, but not half so much as Kitty, he realized, when she grabbed his arm and pulled him over so she could whisper in his ear. 

"Did you know?" she asked. 

"Not a clue," he replied. "I just knew he was interested in her for some reason, not why." He turned his attention back to the door, where Rogue was standing dumbfounded. 

"Mah what?" she exclaimed, staring at the older man. "What do ya mean, mah birthright? Ah'm not a Neo. Am I?" she asked, less certain as she stared into his eyes. 

"My child," he said, walking around the table to where she was standing. "You truly do not remember, then? I thought you feigning ignorance, having found a place for yourself here." 

"Ah - ah really don't remember anything o' my life before Mystique found me," she admitted. "Or just bits and pieces, anyway - nothin' that makes sense." 

Ororo looked at her, surprised. "I was unaware of that, Rogue. While you obviously shrouded your past in mystery, I did not realize you did not know it yourself." 

"Yeah, well, it wasn't something Ah wanted to advertise, Storm. What y'all knew about my past was bad enough - who knows what worse is back there that Ah forgot? The Professor knew, though - he blocked out some stuff I was havin' trouble dealin' with, but Ah still don't know what." 

Arakasi nodded. "I can detect the work he did there. May I link with you, and show you what you have forgotten?" 

"How? Even the Professor had a hard time readin' my mind," Rogue asked skeptically. 

"C'mon Chere, let's go," Remy protested, taking her arm. "This homme got you mixed up with somebody else, I'm thinkin'." 

"Nor would he be able to read mine with any accuracy," Arakasi interrupted. "The minds of the Neo are different. I have similar difficulties reading the spikes here," he added, nodding at Remy. 

Rogue shook off Remy's arm. "You're the guy in mah dream, aren'tcha?" 

"Quite possibly," Arakasi replied. "I knew you well when you were a child; my sister was your mother. Do you want to see her?" 

Rogue looked around the room at the assembled X-Men, most of whom were shaking their heads. She met Bobby's eyes, and he grinned and shrugged. "Can't hurt anything," he mouthed, and she nodded. 

"All right, then," she conceded. "Show me her." 

Arakasi reached out and touched her face, and she closed her eyes. "Ah - ah see her! She doesn't look much like ya," she added as she opened her eyes and looked at Arakasi. "But it was mah memory, wasn't it? How'd ya touch me, anyway? Ah didn't absorb your abilities at all!" 

Arakasi nodded. "Your memories are there; I can sense them. As for how I managed to block your abilities, I have been dealing with power absorbers for far longer than you have been alive. It is possible to shield oneself against their touch, you know. Do you wish to sit down? I would be happy to help you regain your memories, and you should know the truth before you make a decision." 

"What d'ya mean, a decision? There's no way I can lead the Neo!" she protested as she sat down. 

"You may have to," Domina said, coming over to join them. "There is no other in my line who could assume the role." 

"Rogue, are you sure this is a good idea?" Jean asked, looking suspiciously at Domina. "This all seems rather convenient, somehow." 

"Convenient! I've spent the last twenty years training Moran as my successor, just as Jaeger had been training Rax. I assure you, there is nothing 'convenient' about this whole situation," Domina retorted. 

"No Jean, Ah wanta know. If Ah am a Neo, it sure would explain a lot." 

"Then sit back then, my child, and close your eyes. Picture a door unlocking..." Arakasi said as he lay his hands on her temples. The room was silent a few minutes, all eyes locked on Rogue, and Bobby watched as her face displayed a multitude of expressions as she relived her own memories. 

"Oh, mah God - noooo!!!!" Rogue screamed, opening her eyes. 

"What do you see?" Arakasi asked sharply as Rogue began to cry. 

"Ah didn't mean to - Ah knew Ah wasn't supposed to, but he dared me," she rambled. 

"Dared you do what, Chere?" Remy asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. 

"His name was Zach. We were playin' with our powers," she continued, her face still looking appalled. "He was showin' off with his - makin' figures outta the flames an' all. Ah wasn't supposed to absorb his - mah Momma told me Ah wasn't ready for pyrokinetic abilities, they were tricky - but he was teasin' me, tellin' me Ah wasn't no better than a flatscan, and Ah got mad. Ah slapped him, and turned mah powers on, so ah absorbed his abilities. He passed out - Ah didn't have too good of control, mah Momma was always buggin' me about that, Ah remember. Said something disastrous was gonna happen some day, and it was gonna be mah fault 'cause Ah didn't concentrate hard enough." 

"But Momma was right," she said in a haunted whisper. "Ah couldn't control 'em. Ah felt like Ah was burnin' up, so I pushed the flames out. The buildin' we were in caught fire..." 

"Ah remember bein' scared, and ah couldn't turn the flames off. Zach was still out, so he couldn't help. Ah just ran, and ran, and ran, tryin' to get away from the fire, but it just came with me. Ah saw water up ahead, a river down below the cliff Ah was on, and Ah jumped..." 

"What happened, Arakasi?" she looked up at him, her eyes haunted. "Ah don't remember no more, not until Mystique found me." 

"You must have hit your head when you fell," he answered, shaking his head. "I don't see any more." 

"To the village, ah mean," she persisted. "What happened to mah Momma, to Zach?" Arakasi lowered his head, and her eyes widened. "Did ah kill them?" 

"Oh, no child!" he assured her. "The damage you did was not so bad, though I'm sure it seemed to you as if it was. No, that tribe of Neo was wiped out not so many years later by another, who call themselves the Shockwave Riders. Their deaths were none of your doing, though your mother mourned you as dead when they were unable to find you." 

"But - when Mystique found me, Ah didn't have any powers. They didn't come 'til Ah hit puberty, a couple o' years later," Rogue puzzled. 

"You burned them out, for a time," Domina replied. "They returned once you had healed, but you've forgotten all the training your mother taught you. I don't know if you still have the capability to be Domina, but it's imperative that we establish whether you do or not." 

"An' can, can y'all teach me to control them? Y'know, turn them on and off?" 

"Almost certainly," Arakasi replied, smiling gently. "Will you join us, then?" 

"Doesn't seem Ah really have a choice, does it?" she replied. "Can Remy come with me?" 

"A spike has -" Domina began irritably, while Arakasi answered, "Yes. If he wishes to." 

"Will ya come, Gumbo?" Rogue asked. 

"Don't know, Chere," he replied, shrugging. "Wha's there for a t'ief to do 'mong the Neo? But Remy come visit for a while and see, all right?" 

"Hey, if they get to go with us, how come I can't stay with them?" Cailin protested. 

"Why do you want to stay, little one?" Jaeger asked. 

"Because I want to study with Dr. Hank," she said calmly. Bobby glanced over at Hank, and saw the look of surprise on his face. Apparently, Cailin hadn't discussed her idea with him in advance. Bobby couldn't resist, and before Domina could do more than open her mouth, he butted in. 

"Well, that sounds fair. I mean, if Rogue's going with you, Cailin should be able to stay here if she wants to. I'll bet Hank would be happy to foster her - he'd love to have someone to talk to who can understand what he's saying," he said glibly, and saw Hank cast his eyes skyward. 

"Rogue is Neo, she belongs with her people, as does Cailin," Domina protested, but Bobby thought she was weakening. His position was confirmed when Cailin ran over to her and grabbed her arm, and Domina looked down at her fondly. 

"Please? You know I always wanted to learn about spikes, and what better chance am I likely to get? And Seth isn't that far away, and Kitty's here, and you LIKE Kitty..." 

"You can't depend on Kitty being here though, Cailin," Jean said quietly. "She lives here, yes, but I was just going to ask her and Bobby if they would be willing to take a trip to Genosha." She looked at Kitty, the question in her eyes. "You have a better relationship with Magneto than most of us, and since I know better than to ask one of you to go without the other..." 

"Sorry, Jean, I'm heading out this weekend," Bobby objected, and was gratified by her disappointed look. "I've got a business to run." 

"And I have classes," Kitty said. "And I'm going to have to do some serious job hunting. I think it's time I moved out on my own. Not," she raised her hand as Ororo opened her mouth to protest, "that I'm not willing to help out when you really need me. But I think it's time for me to move on." 

"Are you sure, Kitty? Maybe this isn't the best time - things will be tense with everyone's powers returning," Jean protested. 

"I'm sure, Jean. And who knows, maybe Arakasi is right. Maybe, if more normal humans see mutants around them living ordinary lives they'll be less afraid of us. In any case, I'm positive it's what's right for me right now." 

"Just figures, Bobby," Warren said snidely. "One successful mission, and the two of you run off without a thought to your responsibilities. When it comes down to it, you're just a couple of kids, after all." 

Before Bobby could do more than open his mouth to protest, Betsy whacked Warren over the head with the magazine she'd been reading during the break. 

"I think that's quite enough of that," she said coolly. Perhaps it's escaped your attention, but it seems to me that these two have done more for this team in the past two weeks - no, for everyone in this room" she corrected, looking around at the X-Men and Neo who were assembled - than anyone else you could name. Not too poor a performance, I'd say," she added, nodding at them, and Bobby saw Kit smile. 

He smiled too, taking Kit's hand and thinking back on the last two weeks. Betsy was right - not too bad for a couple of kids.   



	30. Chapter 30, Epilogue

I don't own the X-Men. They, and any other major characters in this story, belong to Marvel. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff.   
  


**Just a Couple of Kids, After All...**   
by Sue Penkivech

**Chapter 30**   
**Epilogue**   


The Neo left on Thursday morning, taking with them Rogue and Remy and leaving Cailin behind, much to her delight and Hank's chagrin. Nonetheless, Kitty suspected they were going to hit it off just fine - Hank had finally found someone to talk with who always understood exactly what he was saying, and whose warped sense of humor paralleled his own. Cailin had already found his hidden Twinkie stash and re-hidden it elsewhere, reorganized his files into categories of "Spikes", "Flats", and "Others", and covered the eyepiece of his microscope with black paint. Needless to say, he was now walking around with a black monocle around his eye, contrasting nicely with his fur, but instead of being angry, he actually seemed rather proud of her. Kitty noted, however, that he did make her return his files to their original order. 

Domina pulled Kitty aside and told her that she and Bobby were welcome to visit, leaving behind the address of their permanent residence and requesting that Kitty not share it with her teammates. Kitty diplomatically refrained from pointing out that they already had that information from the Neo's records and assured Domina she would not give the data she received "from her" to anyone. 

Amarantha was more enthusiastic, hugging Kitty and assuring her that if her sister was anything like her she'd welcome her into the family gladly, which took Kitty aback until she remembered her discussion with Amarantha the day of the aborted meeting. Grinning evilly, Kitty realized she had the perfect ammunition to use against Jubilee in retaliation for some of her recent actions. 

She'd gone back to class on Thursday afternoon, accepting the sympathy her classmates and professors expressed over her "accident" while answering their questions as vaguely as possible. When she left her last class of the day she'd found Bobby waiting for her in the hall, a sheepish grin on his face and a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Her classmate Sherri whispered that she'd gladly be in a car accident if it meant a guy that cute would bring HER flowers, and Kitty had felt her face grow warm. 

Bobby's temperature was still fluctuating, but not as drastically, when they'd gone out the following night. He wasn't a half bad dancer, she had to admit, and what he lacked in ability he more than made up for in enthusiasm. Surprisingly, when the music had slowed he'd swept her into a more-than-adequate waltz. Her amazement must have shown on her face, because he'd laughed. 

"My mom taught me when I was a kid. Said the best thing about having a son was that she'd finally have someone to dance with at weddings - my dad wouldn't dance if his life depended on it." 

"What's she like, your mom?" Kitty asked while they'd danced. Aside from some grumblings about his relationship with his father, which apparently still had its ups and downs, he hadn't said much about his parents. 

"Oh, she's ok," Bobby shrugged. "Well, more than ok, really. She was just awfully overprotective when I was a kid, and she hated the whole idea of me running around fighting super-villains when she found out about it." 

"Can't exactly blame her," Kitty said, considering. 

"I suppose not," he answered grudgingly. "How'd yours take it?" 

"Couldn't care less," Kitty replied disgustedly. "Of course, that probably has a lot to do with Phoenix's intervention when I joined the X-Men. My parents hadn't wanted me to come to Xavier's, you see," she answered Bobby's puzzled look. "So Phoenix 'persuaded' them. As a side affect, they pretty much forgot all about me." 

"Jean did that?" Bobby asked, amazed. 

"No, Phoenix did, it was right after Jean died - oh, you know what I mean!" she said, not in the mood to delve into the whole "who was Phoenix when" issue. 

"Damn manipulative telepaths," Bobby said sympathetically. "The Professor mind-wiped my parents so they wouldn't know I was with the X-Men when I joined. My mom nearly had a heart attack when she found out. How are things with them now?" 

"Oh, I talk to my dad once in a while - he's in the witness protection program. He and my mom got a divorce quite a while back. My mom - hmmm, don't remember the last time I talked to her. We never got along all that well even before my powers manifested; I think I embarrassed her. I mean, instead of focusing on make-up and clothes, I was interested in science and technology. The only thing I ever did that she approved of was ballet - at least that was a 'proper, ladylike hobby," she answered, rolling her eyes. 

Bobby'd laughed. "So, do I get to meet them?" 

"Do you want to?" Kitty asked, amazed. Pete had never been interested in meeting her family; he'd complained that he had enough to deal with his own without "any bloody extras". 

"I probably should," he'd answered, leaning in and kissing her. "I imagine they'd like to meet the guy who's dating their daughter." 

"What about yours?" she'd asked, changing the subject. She wasn't really sure her mother would care one way or the other, but it would be kind of nice to introduce Bobby to her dad...she wondered if there was any way to work that out without exposing his identity. 

He stopped for a moment and pretended to consider it. "I think they'd be kind of concerned if they met the guy who was dating their daughter, since they don't have one," he finally replied, and she'd laughed. "It sounds awfully Summers-ish, don't you think?" 

"You know what I mean!" 

"Umm...sure. Actually, I'd like that. But you need to take my dad with a grain of salt," he'd warned her. "He has a knack for getting off on the wrong foot with people." 

Kitty'd chuckled. "I know - Rogue warned me," she admitted at his puzzled look. "Still, he can't be all bad - he stood up for mutants on national TV, after all." 

"Still having trouble believing that," Bobby said, shaking his head as if trying to wake up from a dream. "He was the one who always wanted me to hide what I was. Well, Mom too, but mostly Dad. But he might actually like you," he said smiling, but she could tell he wasn't at all sure, both by the look in his eyes and the fact that his temperature dropped by several degrees. "I'll talk to them when we get back - maybe you could come over for dinner?" 

"Sounds like a plan," she'd replied, hoping she didn't sound as nervous about the prospect as she was. 

As promised, he'd called his parents the next morning, and his mother had been so thrilled about the idea of her son having a girlfriend whom he "wanted" them to meet that she'd invited them for dinner that evening. When Bobby'd explained that they already had plans, his mother had proclaimed herself crushed. Her disappointment was only lessened by a reminder that he'd be home the next day, and a promise that Kitty'd come over for dinner during the week. 

They'd reluctantly split up for most of the day; Bobby had mentioned some "things" he needed to take care of, so she'd gone off to the computer lab with Seth, who'd come to visit Jubilee. While they worked on patching the few remaining security gaps in he'd noted during his hack of the system, Logan had stopped by, grunted, and commented that for the amount of work she did in there Jean should be paying her a salary. Which gave her an idea... 

Resolutely, she'd gone down to Jean's office and knocked on the door. 

"Come on in, Kitty," Jean had said, and it took Kitty a moment to realize that Jean must've had her inhibitor collar removed. Tit for tat, she'd phased through the door. 

"What? Oh, hi Kitty. Come have a seat," Jean said, gesturing at the chair in front of her desk. She'd pulled her hand through her hair, dropped it, and shook her head. 

"I don't know how the professor did it," she said exhaustedly. "I can't keep up with the paperwork, let alone deal with Scott's responsibilities as team leader." 

"Well, the professor was never in his first trimester, either," Kitty pointed out, and Jean laughed, pushing into Kitty's mind an image of the Professor, his hand on an obviously pregnant stomach. 

Once Kitty'd stopped laughing, she said, "Then too, you just said it yourself - you're trying to do his job and Scott's. Delegate Scott's to Ororo or Kurt, and do the Professor's." 

"You make it sound so easy," Jean replied, mock-glaring at her, then sighed. "But you're right. An administrative assistant wouldn't be a bad idea either, if we're planning to re-open the school." 

"Are you?" Kitty asked, surprised. "I hadn't heard anything about that." 

"Ororo, Logan and I've been discussing it the last couple of days," she shrugged. "To judge by the news, the High Evolutionary's actions have awakened mutant powers in any number of adolescents who might otherwise have remained latent. They'll need a place to go, and that's what Xavier's was originally designed for, after all." 

"True," Kitty agreed, remembering her conversation on that topic with Bobby. "You might want to look up Xi'an Coy Manh and see what she's doing these days; she did the job for the Professor at one point." 

"A good idea," Jean said, cribbling a note and sticking it on her phone. "But I don't think that's what you're here to see me about, is it?" 

"Can't keep secrets from a telepath," Kitty replied, laughing. "No, I had an idea. You know I'm planning on moving out of the mansion..." 

"Yes," Jean replied, rolling her eyes. "You've got Logan's full support on that one, by the way. And mine, to be honest, though I'll miss you - and your work on our computer systems." 

"Well, I'm sure I'll be stopping by," Kitty commented, thankful that Jean had given her the opening she'd wanted. "As for the computer systems..." 

************************************* 

"So she agreed?" Bobby asked, grinning at her from across the table. 

"Without hesitation," Kitty said smugly. "In fact, she told me the Professor had some contacts who might be interested as well and that she'd get me their names. Warren *did* suggest they hire a professional, didn't he? Well, I certainly know the mansion's systems better than anyone they could find - I'd say that makes me a professional. Especially once I get some business cards printed." 

"Congratulations!" Bobby replied, raising his glass, and she obligingly raised her own and clinked it with his. They were at a restaurant - Bobby had pulled in around six o'clock wearing a coat, tie, and pants that actually weren't wrinkled, and told her to get dressed up, they were going out. It was lucky for him that she still had the dress she'd worn to Scott and Jean's wedding in her closet, that it still fit, and that unlike many of the other women at the mansion it didn't take her hours to get ready. They'd ended up at a nice French restaurant; not the type she'd normally picture Bobby making reservations at, and her suspicions were confirmed when he self-consciously mentioned that he'd gotten the recommendation from Betsy. The food had been excellent, and Bobby'd already gotten the bill, so they were just sitting around, enjoying each others' company. When he didn't wince at the total, she pulled it out of his hand and glared at him. 

"No insult intended, but your charge card isn't going to bounce, is it? You shouldn't have done this - I'd have been just as happy going to Harry's," she told him after he handed it and his charge card to the waiter. More so, to be honest, though she didn't share that with him. 

"It won't," he replied, grinning evilly. "When Betsy gave me the recommendation, she also handed me Warren's charge card. I figure he kind of owes us, so I accepted - not that I wouldn't have paid for it myself," he clarified quickly, misinterpreting the look on her face, which was actually hysterical laughter trying to break out. "I'd planned to, but hey, who'd pass up an offer like that?" 

"Not me," she'd agreed when she could finally trust herself to open her mouth. 

"So, you were saying about your new business..." he asked, changing the subject. 

"Yeah, well, the rate's enough, given the frequency with which the Xavier Institute has computer problems, to pay for a half of a shared apartment and whatever expenses my scholarship doesn't pick up, so there's one problem solved," she said, sipping her drink. 

"Hmmm," Bobby had said noncommittally. "Got anything lined up?" 

"Not yet," she admitted. "Though Sherri - she's the girl in my class I was with when you stopped by - said her roommate might be moving out next month. I'll have to see." 

"Oh. Well you know, I had another idea," he said, fiddling with his napkin nervously. 

"Really? What?" Kitty asked, hoping she knew where this was going. 

"Well, you know you told Hank you'd make sure I went back to see him if my temperature kept dropping..." 

"Yeah, I seem to remember that conversation," she replied leadingly. 

"It seemed to me it might be a little hard to do that if you weren't there," he said, his eyes getting that mischievous sparkle she found so endearing. "I mean, I could LIE to you over the phone, right?" 

"Hmm, you've got a good point," she replied, pretending to consider it carefully. "I'd pretty much have to be with you for the next couple of weeks to make sure you were telling the truth." 

"That's what I thought," he said excitedly. "And I KNOW you wouldn't want to break a promise to Hank..." 

"Of course not," she replied indignantly. 

"See? And you know, once you were there for a couple of weeks, it might kind of feel like home, and moving's a real hassle..." 

"Oh definitely." 

"So...all joking aside, Kit - would you like to move in with me?" Bobby asked, taking her hands. 

"I'd love to," she replied. 

*************************************** 

After going out to the car, they got on the highway and began heading east, and Kitty hoped he hadn't decided to accept his mother's invitation after all. But he turned off near Port Washington instead, his fingers drumming along with Bare Naked Lady's "Falling for the First Time" on the steering wheel. 

They traveled a few minutes longer before Bobby turned off the main road onto a residential street lined primarily with apartment buildings, and pulled up to the curb in front of one on the corner. Pulling her along like a kid in a toy store, Bobby dragged her up two flights of stairs, stopping when he began fiddling with a set of keys and unlocking the door on the right. They walked in, and she peered around the small apartment. The only light came from the traffic outside and a slight glow from the room down the hall. She noted that there were lots of windows - Lockheed would certainly approve. 

"What do you think?" Bobby asked nervously, setting the duffel bag down on the counter and rummaging through it to produce a flashlight. 

"It's nice," she replied, going over to the window and looking down onto the street, watching a fair amount of traffic going past. 

"Liar," he laughed, "but it's mine, or it will be on the first anyway. I asked the landlord to borrow the keys for the night - I wanted to be able to show it to you if you said yes. Come on, I'll give you the grand tour." 

Kitty laughed, trying to imagine how "grand" a tour you could make out of something she suspected consisted of a livingroom/kitchen, a bedroom, and a bath, but nonetheless enthusiastically followed along. 

"The walls are being painted next week," he assured her as she glanced at those in the hallway, which were covered with knicks and black marks, probably leftover from when the previous tenants moved out. "Here's the bathroom," he said, pointing the flashlight into a small bath she guessed would be aqua in the daylight, and noted that it had a full size shower. "There are two bedrooms - kinda overkill, I know, but if we use one as an office neither of us will have to rent space somewhere else, at least not for a while. Here's the smaller one," he said, and she saw a room somewhat larger than the bath, and chuckled at the thought of cramming computer equipment inside. Oh well, she'd manage, she knew. After all, it was unlikely she'd have had any more room at Sheri's, and probably less. "And here's the other," he added, turning the flashlight off and opening the door. 

"Oh, Bobby - this is beautiful," she said, taking in a dozen candles of various shapes and sizes, a bottle of something - she guessed champagne - and a still in-the-bag electric blanket. 

"I got some help setting things up from Hank," he admitted, pulling her to him. "You know, this isn't how I expected my vacation to go..." he began, but she interrupted. 

"Complaining?" 

"Nah," he said, leaning in and kissing her. "Come on over here to the window - there's a great view." 

"Bobby!" she laughed as she looked out, taking in the cars traveling down the road and the apartment across the street. She turned away from the window to look at him, and blushed, realizing he wasn't looking outside at all. 

"Yup," he said, tilting his head and looking at her. "Even better than at the mansion. It's got a really great view. 

There was no further conversation for a long time.   
  
********************************************************************   
Author's Note:  This is it, folks.  There WILL be a sequel, or rather, a series of one-shots, but I'm taking a break from writing Bobby and Kitty's adventures for a bit to catch up with real life.  I'd like to thank everyone who made this story possible, especially:

Harry, Wishful Thinking, KnowInsight, and Brightstar, for reviewing every chapter whether here or at Fonts of Wisdom and continuously asking for more.

Escaflowne for a lot of moral support.

All the people on Icekateers for answering a LOT of silly canon questions.

Everyone else who reviewed or e-mailed their feedback, positive and negative.

And most of all, Luba Kmetyk, for telling me that if I wrote it she'd archive it, for never letting me take the easy way out, even when I wanted to, and for correcting my many mistakes before they saw print.  Luba – you're the best!

*********************************************************************


End file.
